Fed-up pensioners fix ECape road
2013-01-22 11:59
COMMUNITY IN ACTION: Would you take it upon yourself to repair a damaged road in your community... maybe not the road pictured above as at appears to be a dam project than a roadway.
Johannesburg - Pensioners from the Zozo location in East London fixed a damaged road after the municipality failed to do so.
The Dispatch Online reported that the pensioners fixed a 2km road leading to two villages after taxi and ambulance drivers threatened to avoid the area because of the bad state of the road.
Around 800 people live in the area.
'ROLL UP OUR SLEEVES AND DO SOMETHING'
Village chairperson Malinge Nqumama said the road had not been maintained in over two years.
Nqumama said: "We decided at a community meeting the future of our village lies with us... We can either sit and complain or roll up our sleeves and do something."
Pensioner Elliot Tikini (72) said he stood to benefit from his labour: "My body cannot take this workload, but I have to assist in fixing the road because I do not want to walk 5km just to catch a taxi."
Municipal officials said it was not their intention to neglect the village.
Francois van Dalen, from the municipality's community services department, said the municipality had only one road grader and that it broke down in 2012.
"We took [it] in for repairs and when it was returned last week, the blade failed to work. We have made arrangements for the blade to be fixed," he said.
Email us and we'll publish your thoughts or use the Readers' Comments section below...
