The deadly state of the Northern Cape’s roads came under the spotlight today as ditch-like potholes pushed a mining truck off the road between Kimberley and Britstown.
In response to the incident, the Democratic Alliance (DA) is demanding that the MEC of Roads and Public Works, Fufe Makatong, urgently attends to danger zones on the road, as festive season traffic picks up. The road serves as one of the major routes for travellers, including tourists passing through from other provinces.
In addition to causing damage to a heavy ore truck, two of my tyres and rims were damaged while travelling on the same road, as I swung out for a pothole that was almost 60 cm deep, only to hit another one that brought my vehicle to a standstill.
If this road is not speedily attended to, travellers may be injured or even killed as a direct result of the hazardous condition of this stretch of road.
That this road has fallen into a dangerous state of disrepair, just eight weeks after being repaired by provincial government, raises many red flags.
It confirms that the department fails to conduct condition assessments or quality assurance upon completion of road infrastructure projects. This means that multi-million-rand tenders are being handed out without sufficient monitoring and evaluation to ensure that work is up to standard, creating very real risks for motorists and their passengers.
The poor quality of workmanship on this road cannot be left unchallenged. The DA will hold the department and respective contractor accountable. In fact, they must both be held liable for damages and related loss of life incurred on this road. I will get my vehicle assessed by my insurance and get them to put in a claim against the department. The DA further encourages others who also fall victim to the poor quality of provincial roads, to submit legal claims for damages to the Northern Cape Department of Roads & Public Works. Until they can ensure safe passage of motorists on provincial roads, they will continue to foot the bill of their own inefficiencies.
In the provincial adjustment budget tabled last week, nearly R10 million was redirected from provincial infrastructure projects to cover increasing legal costs incurred by the provincial roads department. According to Provincial Treasury, this was necessary to cover increasing legal claims from motorists whose vehicles are badly damaged by driving on provincial roads.
The DA has written an urgent letter to MEC Makatong, calling on her to take immediate action on the Kimberley-Britstown road. We will further probe road maintenance and repair contracts that are claiming lives and costing government millions of rands, when the legislature re-opens in 2026.
We are also urging drivers to be extremely cautious when travelling on the province’s roads.