Schafli Road, between Crossways Village and the N2 past Chintsa East, reaps a rich harvest of up to 500 damaged tyres a month, thanks to massive potholes.
“We get a minimum of 20 punctures a day, and plenty of those are beyond repair, resulting in a new tyre, possibly a smashed wheel, definitely alignment hassles, and possibly a lot worse if it results in an accident,” said Carl Mauer of GT Tyres at Crossways Village.
“Bad for motorists, but also good for business.”
To combat the holes, especially at night, residents are putting sand filled plastic bags in the holes, which alert motorists, but often not in time to avoid the craters.
A new tyre, for a top of the range 4X4, comes in at R8,000. The rim’s go up to R26,000.
Potholes are not exclusive to Schafli Road. What is exclusive is the nicknamed “Schafli Pothole Warrior”, a Sunrise-on-Sea resident who has repaired dozens of holes. He cannot be identified as fixing roads without Buffalo City Metro’s approval is illegal, but he goes ahead anyway.
Vanessa Smith, a Crossways resident for over 30 years and the developer who built the original Crossways business centre, said she knows him well, but cannot divulge his name. She said he has sophisticated equipment for road repairs and uses it free of charge.
“The problem with the roads is that in the time I have lived at Crossways, the roads have never been updated and the repairs done by the municipality do not last more than a matter of months before faults appear.”
The only concerted action to fix the road came in April 2011 when then president Jacob Zuma’s daughter Duduzile was married at Inkwenkwezi Game Reserve, which borders Schafli. At the time, locals were amazed by the flurry of activity three weeks prior to the wedding.
Roy Angelbeck, DA proportional representative at BCM and a resident in the area, said the road was a constant problem and discouraged tourists.
“If there is one constant from my many years in politics, it is dealing with complaints about Schafli. Every time I phone public works I am answered with promises of repairs being a priority, but that the department has no funds or staff.”
Ed Rathbone, owner of Areena Resort, said they had taken matters into their own hands.
“In the past caravanners have arrived with mangled tyres and rims. The roads department are hopeless so we now fix where we can, and keep identifying the rim-breaker holes with plastic bags.”
If he chose to, the “Pothole Warrior” could use an Eastern Cape High Court decision in March to unmask himself and start charging BCM. The court ruled, as reported in Daily Dispatch in March, that farmers could fix roads and be reimbursed, provided they give the department 30 days’ notice, and submit two other independent quotes.
Attorneys contacted by Daily Dispatch would not comment on the likelihood of claims against BCM, but off the record pointed out that claiming would be a long and expensive process and would probably not be worth the legal fees...