A group of residents from the Umngeni local municipality at Howick, KwaZulu-Natal Midlands, have marched to the local provincial Transport Department office, protesting against the neglect of roads in the area.
Democratic Alliance (DA) Deputy Mayor, Sandile Mnikathi, has handed over a petition signed by 700 residents, farmers and business owners from the area to a senior official.
Mnikathi says the poor state of the roads in the area, which are part of the popular Midlands Meander tourist route, has a big impact on tourism businesses.
“There’s a particular road in Nottingham Road, it’s called the D2477. We have a luxury spa there called Indigo Fields. Marley Stotts. The owner has had 5 reviews that said whilst they enjoyed their stay, they are not very happy about the roads, and they’re in all likelihood not going to come back. So that’s the type of impact it’s having on our businesses. And as you rightly pointed out, we’ve tried to position ourselves as the premier tourism destination in KwaZulu-Natal,” says Mnikathi.
A resident of Merrivale Heights, outside Howick, Kate Janse Van Rensburg, says the tarred road has become a hazard when traffic diverts from the N3.
“When there’s traffic, we, as residents in the local area, are impacted by people driving on verges and overtaking and almost having head-on collisions because of these potholes and crumbling roads. I’m here to join this political party to plead with the Department of Transport to improve our roads for locals. As a municipality as a whole, on dirt roads, on businesses and residential roads, can they please help?” asks Van Rensburg.
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