The road into Standerton, an agricultural town in Mpumalanga, comes with a warning sign about potholes, which are not an uncommon sight in South Africa, but it becomes quickly clear that this town’s potholes never end, they just get worse - and so do its issues.
It’s as if there should be signs in every corner reading "caution, pothole every metre" throughout the 144-year-old town, or "caution, sewage flowing into streets and houses, you will lose your dignity" and "water gushing into roads, don’t trip on the refuse". But it should also be a cautionary tale about the story of South Africa’s neglect of its municipalities, and how the unchecked deterioration of infrastructure chokes businesses and local economies.
