KZN's most pot-holed riddled road

Farmers and residents who have to navigate the R69 that connects Vryheid with Mkuze via Louwsburg in northern KwaZulu-Natal believe that this was probably the most dangerous road in the province.

They claim that there were more than 500 potholes in a single kilometre of the R69.

Coenie Swanepoel, a cattle and timber farmer living near Louwsburg, said it was life threatening travelling on that road.

"You have to stay focused on that road. You can no longer call them potholes, as they are so deep. People avoid the holes and move onto the oncoming traffic making it extremely dangerous and cause head-on collisions.

"We have spent over R60 000 since December on vehicle repairs because of the damage caused by travelling on this road," said Swanepoel.

He said the road is mostly gravel with large sections of the road falling away underneath.

"It's life-threatening travelling this road. There are accidents all the time. Businesses in this area have either closed or are struggling financially. People no longer want to come to the town to shop.

"Tourism is also suffering as people are not visiting a local game reserve. We are small farmers in the area farming cattle, timber, dairy, chicken and vegetables. People are reluctant to come to our farms to do business because of this road," he said.

He said a trip that used to take them 35 to 40 minutes from Louwsburg to Vryheid now takes an hour and 15 minutes.

Riona Gokool, DA member in the provincial legislature, said for the past two years, community members have submitted monthly complaints to the Department of Transport in Vryheid.

"Despite this, the department has failed to act decisively or transparently. A response to written parliamentary questions by the DA in KZN now reveals that the upgrade of this route forms part of the rehabilitation project for Provincial Road P46-2, specifically from kilometre marker 16.00 to 45.00," said Gokool.

She said while a contract for rehabilitation work has been awarded, the contractor was currently in the process of fulfilling pre-construction obligations with full-scale construction yet to begin.

"In the interim, patchwork maintenance activities have been announced, including blacktop patching and material procurement. However, these "quick fixes" have proved to be ineffective, poorly implemented, and in many cases, more damaging than helpful," she said.

Gokool said fixing the R69 was not a luxury, but a lifesaving necessity.

"Residents can no longer risk their lives on a road that has been allowed to crumble to ruin. As part of KZN’s Government of Provincial Unity (GPU) the DA will continue to push for proper road networks for the people of our province," said Gokool.

MEC for Transport and Human Settlements Siboniso Duma said the construction project was expected to be completed by October 2026.

Duma said they have appointed consultant engineers and a contractor for the rehabilitation of that road.

"The department is considering this road as a priority as it is the main link between Abaqulusi Local Municipality, UPhongolo Local Municipality, Umkhanyakude District, and two neighboring countries, such as Swaziland and Mozambique.

"As a result, an amount of more than R424 million has been allocated for the rehabilitation of this road," said Duma.

He said the department was currently working with local stakeholders to set up a project liaison committee for the duration of the construction.

"As soon as the committee is established, we will have a formal stakeholder structure (Transport Forum), which will represent all wards of Abaqulusi Local Municipality and the community at large.

"As a representative of the community, this structure, working with the contractor and the department, will ensure that the construction project is completed by October 2026 as per our deadline." he said.

Duma said the project has a consultant engineer appointed by the department to monitor the quality of construction, manage finances, and complete the project on time.

"Technicians from the department will serve as project managers to monitor the project’s performance and implementations.

"According to the risk assessment report, this road has reached the end of its lifespan," said Duma.

He said with KZN being the logistics hub, there were many trucks carrying coal and chemicals, spillages on the road, adding that the road networks were being damaged and had many defects.

"We remain concerned that the prolonged rainfall and floods caused by the cut-off low-pressure system are destroying our road networks across all corners of the province.

"The issue of efficiency and rapid repair of potholes is what we are also focusing on. In this regard, we have launched a province-wide campaign focusing on pothole patching with a budget of R216 584 440.26. We are tackling the backlog of 3.12 million m2 of potholes," said Duma.

He added that they have procured 55 trucks at a cost of R103 million and will be procuring a further 25 trucks to reinforce the department's efforts to eradicate potholes on our network.

SUNDAY TRIBUNE