Nearly a year after a sinkhole appeared on the R563 in Krugersdorp, residents are still waiting for the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport to start with repairs.
According to a reply received by the Democratic Alliance (DA) Gauteng from the MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale-Tlabela, repairs were scheduled to start this month; however, no contractors are currently on site to repair the sinkhole.
These repairs are urgently needed as residents’ homes and the surrounding area, including the road, have been damaged by the sinkhole.
The current situation is untenable and cannot continue, as both motorists’ and residents’ lives are being put at risk daily due to the road being unsafe.
This road serves as a key link to other parts of the province, and numerous accidents have been reported on it due to its poor condition.
The surrounding roads are now also negatively affected due to the sinkhole.
Furthermore, motorists who sustain damage to their tyres will, in turn, risk having their insurance premiums increase if they continually make claims to have the damage repaired.
The MEC only acted after pressure from the Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng.
The DA will continue to monitor the situation on R563 and, if work has not commenced by the end of January, will write to the MEC to determine the cause of the delays in repairing the sinkhole.
A DA-led Gauteng provincial government would implement its infrastructure master plan, which includes partnering with the private sector and civil society to pool resources to assist in fixing this province’s crumbling infrastructure.
Yes, this can be done!