Potholes make life miserable and expensive

Over the past two months Potchefstroom has experienced severe rainfall and hail storms, the latest being on 30 January. This has left the city’s roads, especially those around the North-West University (NWU) campus, riddled with potholes continuously growing in size and depth.

This storm did not only lead to the RAG farm being evacuated on 30 January and houses in the Central Industrial District (CID) being damaged and flooded, it also contributed to more damage to the already dangerous Potchefstroom roads.

The roads have been in a bad state since the heavy rain Potchefstroom experienced on 8 December 2019. The Potchefstroom Herald reported on 10 January 2020 that the N12 between Potchefstroom and Klerksdorp had to be closed for several hours, as well as that various areas experienced flash flooding due to the heavy rainfall on 9 January.

Motorists are enraged about the potholes that are being left to grow in depth and size, because of the damage it could and does cause to their vehicles.

NWU information technology student Ricus Warmenhoven (22) experienced severe damage to his car, estimated at R15 000, after striking a pothole as he was driving home from the Albuquerque Spur in his VW Polo over the bridge on Thabo Mbeki Way, on Monday 27 January.

“There are a set of potholes ahead of the bridge that I was able to avoid, but as I went up the bridge I had to switch my brights off as another car came from the front and then I spotted the pothole too late. Due to the impact, my tyres have bubbles and my mags are bent,” Warmenhoven said. 

This was not the first time Warmenhoven had a run-in with potholes in Potchefstroom as in the four years he has studied at the NWU, he has written off four tyres.

“It is not reckless driving, it is just nearly impossible to spot a pothole when it is raining, or the potholes are in impossible places on the road where you cannot see them or avoid them in time,” Warmenhoven said. 

Workers were spotted attending to potholes around the NWU campus and closer to town in the week from 3 to 7 February. However, Warmenhoven feels demoralised as potholes on other main roads, such as Thabo Mbeki Road, are still left untouched .

According to Kiewiet van Zyl, operations officer (COO) of Cachet Park City Improvement District (CID), “most of the potholes in our demarcated area have been fixed and are addressed when reported. We have a maintenance programme and make use of private contractors where possible.”

“The Cachet Park CID is a non-profit organisation that acts as an implementation arm of the JB Marks municipality. The organisation helps to fix the potholes in the Cachet Park area. However, JB Marks remains the primary service provider as it is their mandatory obligation,” Van Zyl said. 

Warmenhoven agrees: “It is the municipality’s responsibility to fix the potholes as it is something that we pay our taxes for. It must be a basic service.”

The municipality could not be reached for comment by the time of publication.