Perilous Komani roads just left to ruin by council

Worries are mounting that big sections of Komani’s poorer but most populated areas will soon be without roads.

Some sections of the roads have become unusable. Residents of Ezibeleni and Mlungisi are furious that the only resource Enoch Mgijima municipality seems to be able to throw at the proliferating potholes is sabhunga.

This friable mix of sand and dolerite simply gets kicked loose by tyres or washes away, leaving even bigger potholes.

Komani residents and Uncedo Taxi Association have raised their frustrations on Facebook.

Cars are being damaged, safety is being compromised and some say the municipality should pay for the damage caused, due to their inability to do the job properly.

Saturday Dispatch visited these areas:

lIn Pelem Road, 100m of tar has washed away and the road is closed;

lIn Nomzamo, about 1km of the road network is unusable.

The tar surface was washed away a few years ago; and

lIn Mabuyaze, the main street, about 500m of tar is riddled with potholes.

The tar road is slowly being swept away by rainwater. Angry residents said it was not acceptable for Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality to respond to their many complaints by simply filling potholes with sabhunga.

Ezibeleni resident Thabo Nombutuma complained on Facebook about the municipality.

“All we get for the potholes is sand. If this was in town it would have been different,” he said.

Komani resident Jeff Meyers encouraged people to sue the municipality if they had an accident due to the potholes.

Irate Komani Uncedo Taxi Association member Mandla Tyhulu said the deteriorating roads in Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality were being ignored.

“For us taxi drivers it is difficult to transport people because the roads are bad. We are thinking about the safety of our passengers,” he said.

Tyhulu said some roads in Mabuyaze in Ezibeleni, and Nomzamo and Pelem roads near Aloe Vale in Komani were so bad that they had stopped functioning as roads.

“Cars have stopped using some of the roads and it will become worse if these rains continue.

“We report these roads to the municipality and instead of fixing the potholes they put sabhunga.

“We want them to fix the potholes correctly,” he said.

DA councillor Sakhumzi Mkhunqe said there were barely any functioning roads in Ezibeleni.

“The officials of the municipality don’t care about the roads. I have been writing letter to the municipality complaining about the potholes and I have received no response from them.

“Instead the following day municipal workers come and put in sabhunga to fill the potholes,” said Mkhunqe.

He said the situation was becoming worse every day.

“This does not affect only the taxi industry but us as residents. I have to buy two tyres for my cars now.

“The municipality has failed to deal with the potholes and we have to suffer,” he said.

Enoch Mgijima Local Municipality spokesman Fundile Feketshane promised to respond to the questions sent to him on Monday.

In his response on Thursday, Feketshane said he was still trying to get information from the relevant officials and would respond when he got the information. — thembiles@

dispatch.co.za