The DA has called on the Minister of Transport Elizabeth Dipuo Peters to tackle the problem of roads in the Eastern Cape as a matter of urgency, but the ANC objected to the motion, Vicky Knoetze, DA MPL for Roads and Public Works, said in a media statement.
The DA has called on the Minister of Transport Elizabeth Dipuo Peters to tackle the problem of roads in the Eastern Cape as a matter of urgency, but the ANC objected to the motion, Vicky Knoetze, DA MPL for Roads and Public Works, said in a media statement.
The motion, made at a sitting of the National Council of Provinces Tuesday November 4, said that no regional rural road maintenance contracts have been awarded for the Eastern Cape so far in the 2014/15 financial year.
Since April, no maintenance work has been carried out in large parts of the Eastern Cape due to contracts not being awarded because of problems in the procurement process, she said.
She called on the government to award rural road maintenance contracts as a matter of urgency, and to put contingency plans in place for urgent maintenance works until the contracts have been awarded.
"The ANC objected to this motion," she said.
"Does the ANC want to continue to stifle economic growth and tourism in the Eastern Cape? This gesture by the ANC speaks to their lack of concern for rural communities in the Eastern Cape," she said, adding that roads are the life blood of the Eastern Cape.
"I have submitted questions for oral reply to the MEC for Roads and Public Works, Thandiswa Marawu, to explain to the legislature when and if maintenance of rural roads in the province will commence," she said.
A Makana spokesperson has said that the municipality has been unable to procure tar.
