Ottosdal branch repairs nearly 270 potholes in town
AfriForum’s Ottosdal branch recently carried out essential maintenance work on the town’s road infrastructure after repeated requests to the Tswaing Local Municipality to do it, had gone unanswered for more than three years. Over the past three weeks, the branch has filled 267 potholes in Ottosdal. Although potholes were repaired throughout the town, Marais, Moorcroft, Voortrekker, and Louw Streets had some of the highest numbers of potholes and the largest ones.
“The town’s roads are in an extremely poor condition, which makes daily traffic difficult and exposes vehicles to unnecessary damage. With this repair work, several roads are once again accessible to residents and visitors. The branch therefore plans to continue repairing more potholes for as long as the Municipality fails to do so,” says JP Nel, AfriForum’s District Coordinator for Stellaland.
The branch recently cut more than 1,5 hectares of grass on vacant plots and along pavements and also removed about 10 bags of rubbish. According to Nel, the costs of this weekly clean-up project run into the thousands per month. This while the community continues to pay every month for maintenance that the Municipality simply does not do.
“Communities cannot wait indefinitely for basic service delivery while infrastructure continues to deteriorate. Our volunteers therefore decided to stand up and offer solutions themselves where necessary. These projects show what is possible when people take responsibility for their community and work together to make a difference,” says Nel.
“The Municipality is simply not fulfilling its duties, and AfriForum will continue to put pressure on them to ensure that the Municipality is held accountable for this.”
The branch would like to thank all the volunteers and supporters who made their time, equipment and resources available to make these projects possible. AfriForum’s Ottosdal branch will continue to provide practical solutions and serve the interests of the town’s residents where service delivery falls short.
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