Tshakhuma residents are highly dissatisfied about the state of the ring road, which had been repaired only last year.
The Tshakhuma ring road starts at the Tshakhuma Fruit Market along the R524, cutting through the Tshakhuma Tribal Office and passing Mavhungu Andries Secondary School, on to a small fruit market in Mulangaphuma village, and back to the R524.
In 2021, Makhado Municipality appointed two contractors to patch up the potholed road, but only two weeks after the road maintenance had been completed, the residents say, the potholes started to reappear again, making the using of the road very difficult for motorists.
"We are appealing to the Makhado Municipality to attend to the ring road as a matter of urgency, as it is affecting the community," said Joel Mulaudzi, secretary of the Tshakhuma South African National Civic Organization (SANCO).
"We believe substandard work was done and possibly the contractor was not a professional on road maintenance. It is important for the municipality to award contracts to professionals, as this will warrant good jobs," he said. Mulaudzi further suggested that the municipality check on the quality of work that is being done on a regular basis, before they release the contractors.
Realising that the ring road is posing a danger to the community, residents escalated the matter to Makhado Ward 28 and 29 councillors, but apparently, they have not received any feedback from them yet. "We need to know when the municipality is going to attend to our road. We have not been informed about any plan to repair the road since November last year," said Mulaudzi.
A media enquiry was sent to the Makhado Municipality on 28 April, but at the time of our going to press, no feedback had been received on the matter. The spokesperson for the municipality, Mr Louis Bobodi, said he was still waiting for a response from the relevant departments.