The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) is set to take over the repairs and maintenance of three provincial roads in the Free State. This is owing to the provincial government’s failure to eradicate the backlog to maintain and repair deteriorating roads.
The roads in question are the R26, R74, and R34 which connect neighbouring provinces.
The possible takeover followed the National Council of Provinces’ (NCOP) assessment of infrastructure in the Free State from 12 to 14 September. Sanral’s projects in the province were also assessed.
The MEC for Community Safety, Roads and Transport, Maqueen Letsoha-Mathae, indicated that she was in discussion with the road agency to take over the repairs and maintenance of the three roads. She also stated plans of a takeover during a meeting with Free State Agriculture held on 7 September.
Arising from the engagements, Letsoha-Mathae said her department was making use of Sanral engineers to assess the quality of road upgrades and repairs before they make any payments to contractors.
About 70% of the province’s roads have been declared to be in a terrible state as they are fraught with potholes. Farmers say they do not profit as they struggle to transport their produce to the market due to the bad state of the roads. They say neglect of province road infrastructures impacts negatively on the economy.
Reginald Demana, Sanral’s chief executive officer (CEO), said the road agency welcome Letsoha-Mathae involving them in road infrastructure projects.
Francois Wilken, president of Free State Agriculture, has re-emphasised that farmers and the rural community are essentially dependent on roads and a safe rural community to produce food.
“Agricultural representatives emphasised, and the MEC agreed that corruption is responsible for many of the road infrastructure problems. This gives rise to incompetent contractors fixing roads halfway and then disappear or provide substandard services.
“The Free State Agriculture will continue to put pressure on the provincial government to address the many infrastructure challenges in the province,” said Wilken.
Farmers in the Memel region pointed that the initiative to fix a 40km stretch of the R34, a road fraught with potholes, cost about R250 000 in resources and manpower.
The road is one of the longest routes in the country, connecting Vryburg with Richards Bay via Kroonstad and Newcastle. It links three provinces: the Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, and North West.
