Residents of Philippi, Highlands Estate and Ottery say their roads are disappearing before their very eyes while the City is doing niks to stop it.
Widaad Samuels from Highlands Estate says mense can no longer travel by road for fear of damaging their vehicles as the padjies have more gatte than tar.
“If I get visitors to my house in Cucumber Street, then they must park on the main road and I have to go fetch them either with my car or I must walk,” Samuels explains.
“As residents, we know how to drive on this road but it is near impossible for the visitors to navigate through these roads and we drive through other people’s properties.
“The people here have even made a road on somebody’s property to use as a way to get out.
“The owner of that property is not around so they are not aware of the road that was made there, but we need the City to come and fix the roads because it is just getting worse.”
Samuels says George Smit Street is particularly bad as it’s pocked with deep potholes.
“We always get told the roads here are bad because it is farmland but we still get charged rates like everybody else, so we need to get the same services which include better roads,” adds Widaad.
Mayco member for urban mobility Rob Quintas says the City is planning on working on roads in the area this month, adding that the area is classified as semi-rural.
“These roads are graded twice annually as part of the urban mobility directorate’s road maintenance programme,” Quintas says.
“This usually takes place before and after the winter rains, and is supplemented by ad hoc grading as and when needed.
“The next cycle of grading is scheduled to commence in September.”
junior.bester@inl.co.za