FRUSTRATED residents of Hamatsa, Tshirolwe and neighbouring villages in Limpopo are putting their votes on hold until issues on the D3741 road are addressed.
This decision comes as the country prepares to register to vote from Saturday, 18 November to Sunday, 19 November for the 2024 elections.
But the residents in Limpopo want to withhold their votes, saying only 1,2km of the 15km road was tarred in 2017, leaving the remaining 13,8km covered with concrete-like rocks. This condition has led to numerous complaints from motorists and emergency services about the road's usability.
During a mass meeting held at Hamatsa Village on Sunday, 12 November, the communities decided that no one from the area would register to vote.
Resident Stanly Mudzhambi told Daily Sun they won't register to vote until their concerns are addressed.
"We're not going to register to vote because our votes don't mean anything to them. We engaged Road Agency Limpopo several times with empty promises," he said.
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The affected villages are home to about 70 000 residents who rely on the D3741 road to commute to work, school or Louis Trichardt, Biaba, Musina or Siloam CBDs.
Khathutshelo Simon Matsa, deputy chairman of the Road D3741 community forum, emphasised that the untarred road has a detrimental effect on development in these villages.
"Nobody wants to bring development to a place where there are no reliable roads. Even companies in town don't want to employ people from these villages because they might fail to get to work on time due to transport," he said.
Allegedly, the communities have been urging government to construct a proper road since 2012. Simo said that despite numerous appeals and efforts, they have received nothing but empty promises.
"We're now tired. We're going to deal with them in the ballots," he said.
In response to the complaint, the Road Agency Limpopo stated: "The current status is that a consultant engineer has recently been appointed for this project, and processes are still underway. A project manager is also yet to be assigned. The project is still in the beginning phases."
