Sibasa’s roads in sorry state of decay

Date: 07 February 2014 By: Elmon Tshikhudo

Sibasa town, one of the best-kept areas in its time and the oldest town in Vhembe, is fast deteriorating and becoming a shadow of its former self.

On entering the town, one is met by large potholes, which are more like swimming pools on rainy days. The town has become even more disfigured by a construction site, alleged to be a new taxi rank but construction of which has stalled since last year.

The town is in a state of total decay. The potholes have angered not only motorists but even the local community, who feel they are being neglected. Taxi drivers and other motorists have to compete for lanes. Numerous vehicles are said to have lost tyres because of the big potholes.

Vehicle owners who spoke on condition of anonymity said the road has become a matter of “survival of the fittest” between cars, taxis and buses. “It is not surprising to find a car driving straight at you in your lane in trying to avoid the big potholes. We have had incidents here where cars have been scratched while scrambling for the way. It is very bad here; even the rural villages are better,“ said one owner.

Mr Solomon Shandukani, chairperson of the Vhembe District Taxi Council, said the state of the roads generally is pathetic. “It is terrible. We do not even know what to say. We are very disturbed by the state of our roads,” he added.

“We are really running at great losses because of the bad roads. Our vehicles are wearing out on a daily basis, and we are incurring losses which would otherwise have been avoided if it were not for the bad roads," he said.

Shandukani said what was adding to their woes was the envisaged taxi rank which had just stalled, with no progress taking place. "We do not even have parking for our vehicles, which is making the running of our business very difficult," added Shandukani. He said it was also discouraging that the municipality just filled the potholes with soil that was swept away when it rained.

Thulamela Municipality's spokesperson, Mr Ndwamato Tshiila, said the filling of the potholes had been delayed by the recent rains, which had made it impossible for them to do the work. “We have a programme underway to rehabilitate the streets, especially the filling of the potholes. You will remember we had terrible potholes at Muledane, which we filled, and we are still continuing,” he said.

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Elmon Tshikhudo

Elmon Tshikhudo started off as a photographer. He developed an interest in writing and started submitting articles to local as well as national publications. He became part of the Limpopo Mirror family in 2005 and was a permanent part of the news team until 2019.

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