Unemployed young men have taken it upon themselves to repair potholes in the N’wamitwa Traditional Authority area.
Rodney Moloto, Nkuna Collins, Marvin Maphosa, Clyde Kgatla, Happy Hlahleni, Kingsley Mhlongo and Phumelelo Mhlongo are some of the young men who repair potholes on N’wamitwa road.
They repair the potholes using a mixture of cement, sand and concrete and ask for donations from motorists. The team is in need of support since they have volunteered, either from the Municipality or the local leadership.
“We are reliant on donations from kind motorists who drive past while we are busy working on the road,” said the group leader, Rodney Moloto.
Moloto said that from the donations they buy cement and share the rest of the money among themselves. At least this job helps to bring food on the table and they want to stay far away from engaging in criminal activities by keeping themselves busy.
According to Moloto, they work on the main road from Nwamitwa to Wally Village, their project go as far as Bush Valley Chicken shop near Tarentaal. It’s been years without any proper maintenance on the Road connecting different communities around N’wamitwa along the Bush Valley Road to Tzaneen Town. The Deerpark road is also having similar challenges and it looks like it is far worse.
The team started towards the end of February after they realized that the Greater Tzaneen Municipality was not showing any indication of fixing the potholes which were made worse by the recent heavy rains.
“We came together and each contributed money to buy cement and brought tools such as a wheelbarrow, spades and a water container from home. We get sand and gravel on the side of the road,” said Moloto.
Some motorists who uses the road regularly, Andrew Ngobeni, Shadney Ndlovu and Refilwe Ramothwala among others, applauded the young men’s efforts and appealed to fellow road users to donate so that the good work can continue. Taxi operators also appreciate the work done by the volunteers.
Moloto said that although they are volunteers, the income they get from motorists assists them to make ends meet. He appeals, on behalf of the team to motorists, transport companies and taxi associations for donations so that they can buy material, safety equipment and acquire the necessary signage to alert motorists that they are working on the road.
