Question NW3414 to the Minister of Transport
24 November 2023 - NW3414
Nolutshungu, Ms N to ask the Minister of Transport
What specific steps of intervention does her department intend to take in Komani, in the Eastern Cape, to fix potholes in the local roads network, since there has been no response to the complaints logged by the residents through Operation Vala Zonke?
Reply:
As the honourable member may be aware, road and transport function are a concurrent function exclusively performed by the three spheres of Government. In terms of Section 4(a) and (b) and Section 5(a) and (b), of the constitution of the Republic,
Based by the complaint directed to both the province and municipality regarding the bad state of the Komani roads, I can confirm that in deed the roads referred to are municipal roads.
In terms of Section 139 and 154 of the constitution, both provincial and national government are required to provide the necessary support to those municipalities failing to perform their constitutional function to provide basic social needs/services.
The Department is fully aware that the Komani Municipality is currently experiencing shortage in both Human Resources (Technical) capacity and Financial Resources to deal with all basic social needs (such as water, electricity and roads etc) of which roads are not taken as a priority as a basic social need.
In support for the Municipality to address the rapid deterioration in their road infrastructure, the Department established the Vala Zonke Pothole Fixing Programme to assist both provinces and municipalities in fixing their roads.
Furthermore, the Department established the Roads War Room to have a common and centralised approach to all road and transport related matters. This serves as a center for excellence and research for new technologies and materials suitable for roads throughout country. Subsequently, the Vala Zonke App has been developed as a pothole reporting system, wherein SANRAL is currently training officials from Provinces and Municipalities on the usage of the App, under the theme “Train the Trainer”.
Being aware of the capacity challenges facing Municipalities, Municipalities are encouraged to enter into Memorandum of Agreement with SANRAL for pothole patching to augment technical capacities. In pursuance with the objective of the programme, through the Vala Zonke War Room, the Department has already communicated the initiative to the Municipality in question for technical personnel and those responsible for road maintenance in the municipality for training. Since most of the reported roads are mostly municipal roads, a concurrency is to be sought with Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs (CoGTA) for appropriate intervention.