A Gonubie pothole was so deep residents planted a tree in it.
Irate neighbours said the suburb’s potholes were “craters” and the one on the corner of 5th Street and 16th Avenue, where the tree was, was particularly bad.
Patricia Shunjica said in 16th Avenue the tar had been so badly eroded the road resembled a rural gravel road.
Shunjica said if the metro filled the potholes, in a short time they appeared again.
“The roads are so terrible that when you drive you have to slow right down.
“It’s easy for us who live here, but imagine for someone who has never driven down these roads before, especially at night,” Shunjica said.
Another resident, Tracy Mclachlan, said she couldn’t remember the last time she was able to drive straight in the suburb.
“You have to swerve constantly because these potholes are everywhere. This is so risky because we could crash into someone,” she said. “I don’t know why we are forced to pay rates and taxes when this is what we have to put up with.”
Local business owner Sunette Botha said residents had resorted to filling potholes with various materials, which was often not the best course of action. “I have seen some residents using bricks, sand and sabunga to fill up some of these potholes but it usually ends up being dangerous.
“When these materials are used and we drive over them, the small particles sometimes fly up and hit the body of the car or the windscreen, leaving the glass cracked or the body with small dents.
“The pothole that has had the tree put into it is so deep that I always worried that someone would be injured there. It has been like that for months and months, and nothing was ever done to try and fill it up.”
Gonubie Ratepayers’ Association chairman Andre Swart said when BCM’s new mayor came into office last year, although potholes had been highlighted as a priority, nothing had been done to address the situation to date.
Swart said he had written to BCM requesting permission to fix the potholes around the beachfront ahead of the festive season last year but no response had been received.
“Meanwhile the roads in Gonubie deteriorate daily. When it rains these potholes turn into swimming pools. I just want to know how long we will be forced to live like this,” Swart said. Attempts to get hold of Gonubie’s Ward 27 councillor, Roy Angelbeck, were unsuccessful yesterday. A response to questions sent to BCM had not been received at the time of writing.
l What do you use to fill up potholes in your area with? Send in your pictures to zisandan@dispatch.co.za and they could be published in the Daily Dispatch.
SAY WHAT?! A pothole so big that residents plant a tree in it
Irate neighbours said the suburb’s potholes were “craters” and the one on the corner of 5th Street and 16th Avenue, where the tree was, was particularly bad.
Patricia Shunjica said in 16th Avenue the tar had been so badly eroded the road resembled a rural gravel road.
Shunjica said if the metro filled the potholes, in a short time they appeared again.
“The roads are so terrible that when you drive you have to slow right down.
“It’s easy for us who live here, but imagine for someone who has never driven down these roads before, especially at night,” Shunjica said.
Another resident, Tracy Mclachlan, said she couldn’t remember the last time she was able to drive straight in the suburb.
“You have to swerve constantly because these potholes are everywhere. This is so risky because we could crash into someone,” she said. “I don’t know why we are forced to pay rates and taxes when this is what we have to put up with.”
Local business owner Sunette Botha said residents had resorted to filling potholes with various materials, which was often not the best course of action. “I have seen some residents using bricks, sand and sabunga to fill up some of these potholes but it usually ends up being dangerous.
“When these materials are used and we drive over them, the small particles sometimes fly up and hit the body of the car or the windscreen, leaving the glass cracked or the body with small dents.
“The pothole that has had the tree put into it is so deep that I always worried that someone would be injured there. It has been like that for months and months, and nothing was ever done to try and fill it up.”
Gonubie Ratepayers’ Association chairman Andre Swart said when BCM’s new mayor came into office last year, although potholes had been highlighted as a priority, nothing had been done to address the situation to date.
Swart said he had written to BCM requesting permission to fix the potholes around the beachfront ahead of the festive season last year but no response had been received.
“Meanwhile the roads in Gonubie deteriorate daily. When it rains these potholes turn into swimming pools. I just want to know how long we will be forced to live like this,” Swart said. Attempts to get hold of Gonubie’s Ward 27 councillor, Roy Angelbeck, were unsuccessful yesterday. A response to questions sent to BCM had not been received at the time of writing.
l What do you use to fill up potholes in your area with? Send in your pictures to zisandan@dispatch.co.za and they could be published in the Daily Dispatch.
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