DA Councillors Deliver their Own Services…

Ward Councillors were today (13 September 2011) called to a meeting with the Roads Department of Buffalo City Metro. After much media exposure about the state of our roads, that currently have more potholes than road surface remaining this 2 hour debate left us as Councillors with this information.

Of the R4.5 Billion (not million but Billion) budget for the current financial year the Roads Department have been allocated a sum of R15.6 million about 0.35% of the total budget to repair and maintain our roads in the whole of Buffalo City Metro from Kwelera to Chulumna to Mdantsane and Dimbaza through East London and KWT. Let us put that into perspective, we are informed that within BCMM there are more than 1500kms of tarred road at today’s cost of around R1million per kilometre we are looking at more than R1.6 Billion to replace the whole network of roads excluding all the gravel roads. We are also told that this entire network of roads has long passed its 20 year lifespan.

So where does it leave us as Elected Councillors and Rate Payers of Buffalo City? Basically with the status quo as it stands, with deteriorating roads resembling some of the finest patchwork quilts I have ever seen and not enough budget to even fill those potholes. Hence why I and Cllr Thompson left that meeting to go and purchase bags of our own premix tar and went to see just how hard it is to fill a pothole. Needless to say it took us 30 minutes with little equipment and plenty enthusiasm filled some potholes in Beacon Bay that had been ruining vehicles for weeks.