The North West province will never have paved roads for so long as its annual road infrastructure budget remains capped at R2 billion.
The region was allocated almost R7 billion for road maintenance and expansions over the past five years, and it has been given another R2 billion for the coming financial year for the same purpose.
However, the North West authorities contend that this is far less than they truly need.
“It will never happen, to be able to have paved roads in this province, if we are going to have R2 billion every year to deal with road infrastructure,” said North West Premier Lazarus Kagiso Mokgosi.
“We are talking about constructing roads from gravel to paved, but at the same time, you must maintain the existing infrastructure, must do rehabilitation, must do reseal of the existing road to protect it.”
Maintenance trumps expansion
Mokgosi said that it realistically takes about six years from when a road is built to when it starts needing repairs and maintenance.
Given that the majority of South Africa’s thoroughfares have reached the end of their 20-year design life, repairs and maintenance of existing roads have become a bigger priority for many provinces than constructing new ones.
North West residents have lamented the poor state of road infrastructure in the province.
Speaking to SABC News, one taxi operator said that many of his peers are no longer in business due to the dilapidated roads.
Taxi drivers now take turns servicing clients on alternate days to ensure they can still make ends meet.
“Before, you were operating every day, but now, half of the vehicles will work today, half will work the following day,” said the North West citizen.
The lower earnings have led to several operators no longer being able to afford their vehicles, forcing them to lose their source of income.
Likewise, the Road Freight Association (RFA) said that the cost of operating in North West has increased owing to its ailing asphalt arteries.
“The cost in terms of keeping vehicles maintained for safety purposes, and for roadworthiness, becomes a far higher cost input in the road freight industry,” said the RFA.
“The cost of operations increases, which means then that cost to move goods increases.”
The roads have done untold damage to the North West economy, as they have severely impeded access to the market.
The provincial government has therefore called upon National Treasury to allocate more funds to the region in the upcoming Budget Speech to enable it to expand its paved road network.
The National Roads Agency maintains about 40 roads in the province. It has committed to spend an estimated R30 million on maintenance and upgrades over the coming year.
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