28 May 2024

The P1.9 million budget allocated to Letlhakeng District towards planned maintenance for the 2024/25 period is insufficient to cover all the maintenance needs, Letlhakeng District Council chairperson, Mr Anderson Mathibe, has said.

Addressing full council on Monday, Mr Mathibe said this budget was insufficient to cover all maintenance needs across the district, as many of district structures had gone over 10 years without major maintenance.

Mr Mathibe said however that maintenance projects that would be undertaken include work on the council Transport Unit office boundary wall and ablutions, as well as the completion of maintenance on a cracked classroom at Letlhakeng Primary School from the previous financial year.

He said to address delays in projects, the council decided to change the method of procurement from labour-only contractors to supply and fit contractors to expedite remaining works.

Regarding district roads conditions, he said, it was evident that internal roads within Letlhakeng District were in poor condition, particularly gravel and earth roads which have suffered erosion due to inadequate drainage structures.

Mr Mathibe said he regretted that there were no planned pothole patching activities because of budget constraints. 

He said the council's grader was currently out of service pending repairs. 

He explained that the tender for the repair of graders closed on May 10, 2024, and the repairs were expected to be completed by June 28, 2024.

Mr Mathibe said once the grader was operational again,  the council would commence in-house grading of internal roads and school playgrounds.

He said due to limited funds, council was unable to outsource grading work to private contractors. 

Therefore, grading works would be carried out in-house.

On bush clearing and grass cutting, Mr Mathibe said the Department of Roads - Central Government had secured P1.3 million for this purpose.

This amount, he said, was insufficient to cover the entire section from Thebephatswa to Morwamosu and he said additional funds had been requested. 

In the meantime, he said efforts would focus on the most severely affected sections.

“In relation to pothole patching under the Central Government's Roads department, our team is currently behind schedule due to challenges with transport and material availability, attributed to issues with the GABS system,” he said.Mr Mathibe said they had addressed 69 per cent of the reported potholes, and were working diligently to catch up despite the setbacks. Ends