A mother in Riebeeck East is grateful for her children's lives after her car veered off the slippery dirt road en route to Grahamstown earlier this week. Her car landed in a deep ditch and was extensively damaged, but fortunately no one in her car, or the others that also went off the road that day, were injured.
A mother in Riebeeck East is grateful for her children's lives after her car veered off the slippery dirt road en route to Grahamstown earlier this week. Her car landed in a deep ditch and was extensively damaged, but fortunately no one in her car, or the others that also went off the road that day, were injured.
Cary Clark is both fed up with and afraid of the dangerous state of roads between Grahamstown and Riebeeck East. She said that in the past someone died in an ambulance that was involved in an accident on this road and on Monday it was so bad that she couldn't even take her children to school.
She reported that on the same day she had an accident, around five slow-driving cars, including a police van, had also lost control on the section of the R400 between Riebeeck East and the R350.
Clark blames the accidents on the contractor hired to maintain the road. She said when they are supposed to grade the road they only cover it with clay from the side, which turns to a slushy porridge when it rains, and being clay, it is as slippery as ice and there is no traction whatsoever.
We are totally dependent on this road for everything including emergency services. We have already had a patient die in the back of an ambulance when the ambulance was involved in an accident because of the road, Clark said.
She has complained to local and regional government departments for years but, nobody actually cares enough to come and see what is going on or tries to help us.
She is currently drawing up a petition to demand that something be done about the roads before somebody else gets killed.
Makana municipality's infrastructure and technical services director Thembinkosi Myalato was unavailable for comment, but Executive Mayor Zamuxolo Peter told Grocott's Mail that the condition of these roads is a concern that has been raised with regional and provincial government.
They are busy fixing the road that heads to Table Farm and we hope from there they will do the one to [Riebeeck East], Peter said
