Residents say the Mangaung Metropolitan Municipality is riddled with potholes and unfinished road projects. The only metro in the Free State comprises of several towns which include – Bloemfontein, Botshabelo, Thaba Nchu, Soutpan, Dewetsdorp, Wepener and Van Stadensrus. Residents say they are hard hit as they use the roads daily.
The bad condition of the road network force them to dig into their own pockets to repair their pothole damaged vehicle tyres . The situation is also compounded by the ever rising cost of living.
“We have to fix our cars all the time, our cars are damaged and we have to fix them all time. We don’t know where to drive our cars”, says a disgruntled resident.
“I decided to fill potholes because cars were struggling to pass here and sometimes there were accidents” laments another.
“It is a struggle, these are the roads we find in our locations. We are paying for licenses but the roads are in this condition.”
Almost R30million allocation for roads
However, executive mayor of Mangaung Metro – Mxolisi Siyonzana – says the Metro has budgeted 29-point-nine million rand for re-graveling of streets and filling the potholes. Siyonzana was speaking during the passing of the 2022/2023 budget during the the sitting of the council on Friday.
“We will therefore fast track implementation of the road asset management plan. This house has already approved the road asset management plan report as part of the IDP sector plans. We will also pay special attention on the status of public roads, major economic roads and roads leading to social facilities would be addressed”, says Siyonzana.
Mangaung Metro has been grappling with poor service delivery, political instability and financial mismanagement and has been placed under administration by Cabinet.
