THE residents of Soshanguve in Tshwane are taking action to fix a bad road in their kasi.
Instead of waiting for the municipality to fix the road, several residents in the area donated an average of R340 each and bought concrete to repair a broken ground surface used by the community, especially schools, to access the main road for public transport.
The road was uneven, with overgrown plants and stones that made driving in the dark and heavy rain difficult for motorists.
The residents of the LKK block ordered three truckloads of tarred road concrete. On Wednesday, 15 November, about 30 families donated R340 to get the project underway.
Maria Makua (54) said she and her husband came up with the idea to repair their roads, adding that their area was established in 1996 as an informal settlement that took 12 years to develop.
Maria said that other areas that were established after them have tarred roads but still have problems, especially in summer when it rains.
Maisha Mathuke (42), another homeowner, told Daily Sun that they had tried to involve their ward councillor but he had allegedly refused. He said after they submitted the paperwork to the city, their ward councillor was supposed to submit the paperwork to Tshwane House on their behalf.
"He did not refuse but when we followed up with the city, we realised that he had not submitted it. When we asked him about it, he told us that he was busy with other people as he is not only working with ward 35," Maisha said.
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Maisha said that they have only been able to complete three truckloads, with the third still pending.
"We still need R500 per household to pay for the structure and get more concrete. We need help from the municipality because we need road beams to align the road, road signs, road markings and painting," Maisha said.
Metro spokesman Lindela Mashego said the road in question is a gravel road that the city's regional transport services has been repairing in Motsumi Street during the current financial year.
"After the completion of maintenance works on the gravel road, the community applied a layer of milled asphalt without the city's involvement or permission," Mashego said.
