Photo: Annelie Coleman
This investment had been used for the construction, upgrading and maintenance of the Free State’s road network, she said.
“We are inspiring confidence to bolster growth and development. And time will be the judge of our work.
“We are pleased to announce that we will [also] complete the following roads: Zastron to Sterkspruit, Rosendal to Ficksburg, and Jacobsdal to Koffiefontein to Luckhoff to Havenga Bridge, as well as Viljoenskroon to Orkney,” said Letsoha-Mathae.
However, according to Jafta Mokoena, the DA’s spokesperson for roads and transport in the Free State, despite Letsoha-Mathae’s assertions of large-scale investment in the province’s road network, roads continued to deteriorate.
“The department responsible for roads and transport has single-handedly jeopardised the Free State’s road network, as well as the movement of goods and services, thereby putting the Free State’s economy at risk,” he said in a statement.
Farmers taking responsibility
Francois Wilken, chairperson of Free State Agriculture, said that although the Free State government owned 40 graders, only about 15 of them were operational at any given time. This matter was made worse by a marked shortage of trained grader operators.
“Over and above poor management, the Free State suffers from a serious lack of capacity.
We have reached a situation now where the provincial authorities provide graders and fuel to the farmers to repair the roads, on condition that farmers take responsibility for the operators’, mainly retired officials, salaries. This is an unacceptable situation, putting further strain on farmers’ already-compromised cash flow.
“But what can we do? The roads, and tertiary roads in particular, are in such an abominable condition that we don’t have a choice but to take responsibility for keeping them passable ourselves,” he told Farmer’s Weekly.
