Quick fix for U’hage potholes
Job took 90 minutes after metro had delayed for eight months
A UITENHAGE man has managed to fill a pothole in under two hours – the same task Nelson Mandela Bay municipality has failed to do in eight months.
African Christian Democratic Party councillor Marlon Booysen, 43, said he had reported the pothole, but after waiting for months, decided to fix the hole himself.
Booysen said his decision was prompted about month ago after he damaged his Renault’s rim in the pothole.
The entire job took him 90 minutes to complete at a cost of R480 – the price of a bag of cement and a bag of grit.
Booysen said the pothole project would become ongoing should he acquire R50 000 to purchase a compressor.
“We are hoping to continue fixing potholes in and around Uitenhage and Despatch. These two towns are largely neglected by the municipality, so we decided to assist the municipality with these smaller potholes in our areas,” Booysen said.
“The potholes are very dangerous. Aside from the damage to cars, a driver might swerve to avoid the pothole and hit another car or a pedestrian.
“This project we initiated is aimed at serving the community and will hopefully create about 20 jobs if we can gather support.”
He said four other people formed part of the volunteer team.
“My partner Leonie Hayward pro- vided our first and so far only contribution, giving us R2 000 towards a compressor.”
Armed with little more than a wheelbarrow, a spade, a bag of grit and another filled with concrete, Booysen mixed and spread the mixture, resolving the pothole issue much to the delight of Tulbach residents including Stephan Nieuwoudt, 46.
“This pothole and others around the town have gradually got bigger and become a real concern in Uitenhage. I understand the municipality must have hundreds of complaints they need to attend to.
“But because they don’t have time to attend to the smaller issues like potholes, these problems just get bigger. So I am in full support of this pothole project. I think it will go a long way to getting this and other smaller issues attended to more efficiently,” Nieuwoudt said.
Hayward, owner of Despatch’s Villa Restaurant, said she had decided to support the project following two run-ins with potholes in Uitenhage.
“Potholes are [perhaps] the main reason for accidents in this metro. I wanted to be a part of this project as I believe it will make a difference to the safety of Eastern Cape roads.
“We invite anybody and everybody to assist. We residents cannot wait for the municipality to assist. We need to act now and create a safer community for ourselves.”
Despite e-mail correspondence, the municipality failed to respond to questions by the time the paper went to print.