VILLAGERS are up in arms over a shoddy road built by a local contractor.
The road was meant to link more than five villages and make travelling easy.
The contractor has left the site claiming to have done exactly that – but residents disagree!
Since Monday, Hindenburg and Sibi residents in Maluti, near Matatiele, have been protesting and demanding to know why they were left out of the R24 million access road project.
The project started in March and was sold to the residents as a high standard access road running between the villages from Maluti to Ramatsiliso.
This week motorists battled to reach their destinations as protesters blocked the incomplete road with burning tyres and logs.
Councillor Paulos Hloele said: “The residents are angry over this poorly built road which is way below the standard of the allocated budget.
“The road is incomplete and already has cracks. The contractor is allegedly leaving the site, claiming to have completed his project. Residents demand that the contractor comes back and fix it. They want a quality road that meets the standard of the allocated budget.”
Matatiele mayor Momelezi Mbedla said the protest has not been reported to his office. “Until the issue has been sent to the municipality we won’t be able to intervene,” he said.
Captain Raphael Motloung said police were called but no one has been arrested.
He said for three days cars could not cross the bridge to Matatiele as the road was blocked with burning tyres.
