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The Democratic Alliance in Okhahlamba Local Municipality welcomes the announcement by the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport that more funds will be allocated for the maintenance of roads in the municipality.

For the past three years, the DA in Okhahlamba has been raising concerns about the shocking and ever-worsening condition of the general road network in this municipality. On regular occasions, the DA requested intervention by the municipality, as well as the regional and provincial KZN Department of Transport.

During 2021 it was becoming obvious that the region was facing an economic calamity. Tar and gravel roads were falling apart and becoming unusable. The only two active economic sectors in the region are agriculture and hospitality. As a result of tourists not wanting to use the run down roads, the hospitality sector was – and still is – staring closures and bankruptcies in the face including the shedding of thousands of jobs. The agriculture sector was and is faced with huge problems trying to get inputs such as fertilizer onto farms and to get farm outputs such as fresh milk to the market.

With the local government seemingly ignoring the community's pleas for action, it was time to escalate the issue. The DA in Okhahlamba drove a petition, and together with the community, directed it to the Minister of Transport, the KZN MEC for Transport, and Parliament. In addition, meetings were held with the community for input.

Only Parliament heeded the desperate call for assistance, and a virtual engagement between the DA, the Okhahlamba communities, and the national Portfolio Committee of Transport ensued a few months later. During this virtual engagement, the community of Okhahlamba presented their plight to the Parliamentary Transport Committee. The Transport Committee decided that an oversight visit to the region was needed as they wanted to come and see for themselves.

During the oversight visit on the 22nd of April 2022, Members of Parliament were shocked to hear of the community's struggles with collapsing roads. Members of Parliament from different political parties experienced the crumbling infrastructure first-hand, as their cavalcade weaved and bobbed over terrible roads. Residents informed them of the struggle to access education and health facilities, deliver building materials to their homes, and how potholes were just getting bigger by the day.

The KZN Regional Department of Transport at the Okhahlamba IDP community meeting on the 13th of May 2022, confirmed that funds for the following roads had been included in the budget for the following 36 months. The full rehabilitation of:

• 1. The two arterial roads, the R74 and R600.
• 2. A multitude of smaller tar and gravel road projects.

This intervention will bolster the local economy with additional jobs and income and ensure the future viability of communities, businesses and jobs in the region.

Whilst the funding announcement is welcomed, this must now be converted into yellow machines and road materials being quickly seen fixing the broken roads. The DA will closely monitor what practical progress is made to implement the promises made at the meeting.

This is a significant win for the economic future of Okhahlamba and for the unrelenting pressure brought on by the various authorities by the DA.

Issued by DA Okhahlamba Councillor Thys Janse van Rensburg