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- The pothole-riddled roads of Mahikeng is a major concern for residents.
- In the series, On The Road, News24 is travelling through the country to gauge South Africans' feelings ahead of the elections.
- News24's Manifesto Meter elections tool compares political party manifestos. Read more here.
Driving into Mahikeng, one is jolted – literally – by the quality of the roads. Or rather, the lack thereof.
Furthermore, traffic lights seldom work, and road markings are non-existent. The traffic, surprisingly busy on Thursday's public holiday when News24's On The Road team rode into town, is a free-for-all.
This, in the North West's provincial capital.
However, News24 was told by five residents that a "village boy" had stepped in and taken it upon himself to try to fix the potholes in the roads.
In Unit 13, the roads were pockmarked by huge potholes - but some had been filled in with bricks.
While News24 couldn't track the person responsible, Sylvester Phetlhe, a Unit 13 resident, said that, while the roads were falling apart, one stretch of road - Mokala Street - had been repaired by a "village boy using bricks and sand".
Phetlhe said the boy worked on the roads daily for odd change, and suggested that he should take over the road repairs in the area.
"That one road is so much better since he started fixing it and everyone keeps saying they should hire him," Phetlhe said.
Phetlhe said going to a tyre shop was as common as going to a spaza shop, and they were regulars.
"From back then, the road has been deteriorating; I don't know if this will sound bad, but we don't have roads here.
"From where we come from until now, we have to be honest, we drive here every day, and it's awful," Phetlhe said.
He said he believed the state of the roads affected people of all ages in the area.
"For the people who stay here, old people, the youth and even the kids, I'm sure they can see that we don't have roads here.
"Some of the main roads are at least okay, but when you look, you can see that we don't have roads, and we don't know what happened with the infrastructure," Phetlhe said.
He wanted to know whether the local and provincial government leadership knew how the roads had deteriorated.
"I don't know if the people who are supposed to fix the roads can see, unless they don't stay here," Phetlhe said.
Phetlhe said he hoped the community would consider the state of the roads and infrastructure in the lead-up to 29 May.
He said:
Local community activist Thato Molosankwe agreed with this sentiment.
"The roads are bad. Potholes. They are not maintained. Ja, nothing is happening to the roads," said Molosankwe.
He said local tyre and wheel alignment businesses would not grant warranties on their work because of the state of the roads.
Dodgy roads are especially problematic if your livelihood depends on it - for instance, if you're a travel tour operator, like Thuso Monnagaratoe, the owner of Lovisto Tours, who has been operating in the area for the past decade.
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He said that, when there were good roads, it was easy for tourists to come to the town.
"So, if road infrastructure is becoming neglected, it is becoming difficult, and even start moving tourists away from that particular town.
"Now, we've got dilapidated infrastructure everywhere. Road infrastructure is rubbing salt on the pain."
He said it affected his business because of the impact on his vehicles.
He added:
"Part of my job is to transport tourists around. So, it delays me having to take alternative routes, trying to find a better road, so inconveniencing my clients."
He said tourists on their way to Botswana and Namibia would drive through Mahikeng and spend a night or two.
"But, since we have bad roads, they no longer drive through Mafikeng, they change routes and drive through the N4, past Zeerust. So, that's the biggest challenge we are facing now."
Monnagaratoe said business was better before the roads started disintegrating, because there was more "foot traffic around Mahikeng".
He said the hotels used to be full, and he would get calls from guests who wanted to explore the area.
"You know, word of mouth, it's what sells more. So, if one guest comes here and sees the road as it is, or the challenges we are facing, when they go back home, they say there is a so-and-so challenge. It decreases the number of people who come down here."
Apart from the potholes, the traffic lights are also a problem.
Monnagaratoe said it was because, due to poverty and drug abuse in the area, some people stole the cables.
Another problem he highlighted was the inadequate road signage.
Concerns around Mahikeng's road are nothing new. A key road through the city, renovations on Nelson Mandela Drive have been going on for more than a year now.
According to Monnagaratoe, they were initially told it would last nine months or so.
He had visitors from overseas in March last year. The road was under construction then. When they returned in January, this was still the case.
"So they said to me: 'This road has been under construction forever. Are there any signs that it will be completed soon?'"
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Molosankwe said recent work on the roads was because the governing ANC was under pressure with the elections looming, and polls showing they could drop below 50% for the first time.
He said:
Monnagaratoe wouldn't call it electioneering because they were told of some of the plans long ago.
But, whether the government takes the issue of Mahikeng's roads seriously, is highly debatable.
In the debate on President Cyril Ramaphosa's State of the Nation Address last year, North West Premier Bushy Maape, amid howls from the opposition, said: "You know, there are people who sometimes proclaim there are no roads in North West. They proclaim that there are no roads. But I'm the one who uses those roads more than any other person. I travel from Mafikeng to Rustenburg; I travel from Mafikeng to Klerksdorp; I travel from Mafikeng to Schweizer-Reneke; I travel from Mafikeng to Madibogo, and I don't hit any potholes."
Molosankwe said it meant Maape didn't even go to the ANC's regional headquarters.
"Because there are potholes just there," he said. "It means, probably he is flying around Mahikeng, so he doesn't make sense at all, because there are potholes everywhere. The roads are bad."
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Molosankwe said a change in government was necessary to change the situation.
He is involved in the formation of a new party, which will not contest the coming elections, but will start fielding candidates in the coming by-elections and municipal elections before competing provincially.
"The only way is to change this government because everything is falling apart," he said.
The North West's problems are "totally different" from the rest of the country, according to Molosankwe.
"There is a lot of dignity problems here."
Asked what he thinks needs to change, Monnagaratoe said: "Eish, I don't want to say the government, but it's obvious.
"You know, we need leadership with vision, and who have energy to do things. Because we had a lot of talk shops to say: 'This could be done'. A lot of plans, but implementation was not there. So, we need to get leaders who will implement the plans that are already there and who can turn around the strategies and say: 'This is not working, let's bring what can work'."
However, the biggest change he would like to see was the mindset of the residents.
He added:
He, though, has not lost hope.
"I have [a] vision of seeing Mahikeng turning around. Because, even when I tapped into the tourism industry, it was very bad by then."
He said tourism flourished during the 2010 FIFA World Cup but dropped immediately thereafter.
"That's when I said: 'What can I bring that would attract people?'"
