Please find attached soundbite in Afrikaans by Carin Visser.
Please find attached soundbite in English by Carin Visser.
- Residents have endured deteriorating D405 road infrastructure and collapsing bridges for nearly three decades.
- Poor road conditions are restricting access to schools, healthcare, emergency services and economic opportunities.
- The DA calls on the North West Department of Public Works and Roads to urgently prioritise the upgrading of the D405 road serving Ward 3 communities.
The Democratic Alliance (DA) is calling on the North West Department of Public Works and Roads to urgently address the deteriorating condition of the D405 road serving the communities of Mofufutso 1 and 2, Seone, Majeng, Shaleng and Khunwana in Ward 3 of the Tswaing Local Municipality.
For approximately 30 years, these critical interlinking municipal roads have reportedly received little to no meaningful upgrading. As a result, the road network has deteriorated significantly, with collapsing bridges, inadequate stormwater drainage and sections of road becoming hazardous and, at times, impassable (see photos here, here, here, and here).
The continued neglect of this infrastructure has serious consequences for residents. Learners experience difficulties accessing schools through scholar transport, emergency and security services face delays, and poor road conditions continue to limit economic activity and access to employment opportunities.
The DA is particularly concerned by reports from residents that ambulance services are unable to reach certain areas because of the poor condition of the roads, with patients or their families allegedly being required to arrange and pay for private transport to accessible locations before emergency medical assistance can be provided. If these reports are confirmed, they raise serious concerns about equitable access to emergency healthcare and the constitutional right to basic healthcare services.
The deterioration of the D405 road raises serious questions about why this critical provincial route has been neglected for nearly three decades. Residents are entitled to know whether the road remains on the provincial asset register, when it was last maintained or upgraded, what funding has been allocated to it over the past ten years, whether engineering assessments have been conducted on the deteriorating bridges and stormwater infrastructure, and why the road has apparently been overlooked despite commitments by the provincial government to improve rural road infrastructure.
The DA therefore calls on the North West Department of Public Works and Roads to urgently conduct a full engineering assessment of the D405 road, rehabilitate the collapsing bridges, restore stormwater infrastructure, and provide residents with a clear, time-bound maintenance and upgrading plan.
The DA further calls on the Tswaing Local Municipality to prioritise the D405 road in its Integrated Development Plan (IDP), actively engage the provincial department to secure the necessary funding and intervention, and continue reporting hazardous conditions that place residents and road users at risk.
Rural communities deserve the same quality of infrastructure and access to essential services as every other South African. Safe and reliable roads are fundamental to education, healthcare, public safety. and local economic development.
The DA will continue to hold both the North West Department of Public Works and Roads and the Tswaing Local Municipality accountable until the residents of Ward 3 receive the infrastructure investment and service delivery they have been denied for far too long.