Potholes for sale

2010-03-12 10:00

Carina van Wyk, Beeld

Johannesburg - Two potholes in Kempton Park on the East Rand are "for sale", but at a significantly lower price than those in the German town Niederzimmern.

Barend la Grange, a resident of Glen Marais, has put "for sale" signs at two potholes - one in Mona Street and one in Andrea Street.

According to him, he had this idea after reading a report in Beeld last week about the town in the German state of Turinge, which sells potholes at €500 (over R5 000) each.

Raise funds

The mayor of the German town decided to raise funds in this way because the municipality didn't have the funds to repair all the potholes which were formed over the past winter.

The name of the buyer - or some other text - appears on a plaque which is placed in the tar when the pothole is filled. The offer has already been advertised on the town's website, in English as well, so that foreigners can also buy potholes.

La Grange said the price for the Kempton Park potholes is only R1 due to the "enormous oversupply" in the area.

He decided to put up the signs because he believes the only way to get the Ekurhuleni metro council to address the problem is by getting publicity.

Zweli Dlamini, spokesperson for the Ekurhuleni metro council, said two contractors were appointed in February, mainly for the purpose of road maintenance.

Audit

The council is currently doing an audit to determine which roads need the most urgent attention.

According to Dlamini, highways, industrial roads and roads in CBDs will be fixed before roads in residential areas.

Meanwhile, Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele said on Thursday that he is currently having discussions with the Treasury about the possibility of financing allocated specifically for the building and maintenance of roads.

Ndebele said a large part of the budget is allocated on an "equal distribution basis". Thus the money has to be used for various purposes, including roads.

- Beeld