Are our roads Car-worthy?

If you haven’t noticed the sorry state of our roads in Buffalo City, then you have clearly been out of town for the past 2 months. Granted, we had 2 severe floods just weeks apart which resulted in a lot of road damage. As elected Ward Councillors I, and my colleagues, sprang into action shortly after and reported the flurry of potholes across our city. About two weeks later, I again drove every street in my ward, only to report the very same potholes once more. Needless to say they had not been fixed.

This led me to start sending slightly more forceful emails, including ever more senior officials to see whether this matter could be expedited! After weeks of sending emails, that eventually resulted in a mass email sent on 22 Aug 2011, to a list including the Municipal Manager, Mayor, Speaker, Portfolio Councillor, Executive Director and the Director. Almost 10 days later I have not even received an acknowledgement of receipt. Should I, as an elected Councillor in this municipality, not even get a reply to urgent matters, what kind of feedback and response do average ratepayers receive? I assume none.

To add insult to injury, after many phone calls and investigation I have learnt from senior officials in BCMM that there was NO asphalt available to fill the potholes until recently, and that the workers were on strike. Worst of all, the tender for the private contractor BCMM had used in the past to alleviate the backlog has not been renewed. This tender expired at the end of July2011, leaving a massive gap in service delivery to ratepayers at large. Tenders typically take from 3 to 6 months to initiate and implement.

So where does this leave us as ratepayers in BCMM, with gaping holes in our roads that damage our vehicles? We are expected by law to license our vehicles and ensure that they are roadworthy, but I must question those same authorities at BCMM: Are our roads car-worthy?