Area’s roads unfit for cars -Residents say ambulances, taxis rubbish trucks, can’t reach them

Clay roads in unit P near Fort Jackson are in a terrible condition and had become unconducive to travel on, resulting in residents parking their cars in an unsafe part of the area. .PICTURE: SIBONGILE NGALWA©DAILY DISPATCH
Clay roads in unit P near Fort Jackson are in a terrible condition and had become unconducive to travel on, resulting in residents parking their cars in an unsafe part of the area. .PICTURE: SIBONGILE NGALWA©DAILY DISPATCH
Residents in unit P near Fort Jackson feel as though they have been dumped in an unfit area after they received RDP houses three years ago.

They claim motorists cannot access the houses on the clay roads, as their vehicles get damaged.

They also face the problem that should someone fall ill, ambulance services cannot enter the area because the roads are too poor.

One resident, 30-year-old Amanda Mpulampula, said the situation became worse when it rained.

“We feel like we are being neglected here. Our situation is very bad when it rains because then no one can access the roads.

“The taxis don’t even enter our streets because they are afraid to damage their vehicles,” she said. Mpulampula said residents often parked their cars on the only tarred road in the area and walked up to 1km to get to their houses.

“My husband takes a chance to park his car in front of our house and uses this road. It is unfit to park the car up there because there is the other element of it being broken into.”

The frustrated residents said municipal garbage trucks did not enter the area either because they could get stuck.

Resident Nwabisa Ngcayi, 33, who has a four-year-old daughter, said the school’s transport provider refused to enter the area.

“When it rains I have to take my baby up there so that she can be taken to school,” Ngcayi said.

She added that several residents were willing to contribute about R30 towards renting a construction vehicle to level the roads but the plan fell flat.

When the Dispatch visited the area yesterday, the roads had deep holes and trenches where water ran through, leaving uneven surfaces which made driving and navigating between the houses difficult.

Emmanuel Mpambani, 66, who attended a ward committee meeting in January to address the situation, said it had fallen on deaf ears.

“We have been living like this for a long time now and it gets really bad when it rains. It is almost as if we are not being taken seriously.

“The committee said they would report the matter but we have heard nothing since then,” he said.

By the time of writing, Buffalo City Metro spokeswoman Bathandwa Diamond said she was unable to comment.

“We have not yet received any information regarding the query,” Diamond said.

Ward 24 councillor Zameka Kodwa-Jagula’s phone was on voicemail when the Dispatch tried calling her.

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