Letter: Residents demand Newcastle repairs dangerous D96 road
Sir/Madam
In response to the short article on page 2 of last week's Newcastle Advertiser, I wish to submit this open letter on behalf of all the road users of the D96 road to the mayor, Councillor Dube, and the duly appointed public representatives within the Newcastle Municipality.
In the article the mayor pleads that we should all pay diligently for services, which most taxpayers do – and if the municipality is indeed serious about improving road safety, please consider the 5 km stretch of the D96 road under its care and custodianship; on which numerous accidents have already occurred, and much damage to vehicles too, which, once again, the citizens are forced to fix at their own cost!
To quote from the article, 'Development requires co-operation between a municipality and its residents.'
'Playing your part means paying for services and taking care of our infrastructure,' and '(municipality) reaffirmed its commitment to continued service delivery and community upliftment.'
Road users of the D96 are citizens and regular tax payers to the Newcastle Municipality.
Newcastle residents, cyclists, runners, pedestrians, tourists, residents of Vulintaba Country Estate, residents of Thorn Hill Country Estate, visitors to the Vulintaba Hotel and Anew hotel group, farmers, farm dwellers, farm workers and their families, members of NPO Siyakhusela Indawu Yethu, school buses transporting school children, taxis and other private vehicles, public (government) vehicles such as ambulances, government employees attending conferences at the hotel, businessmen and women, doctors, pharmacists, accountants, architects, engineers, teachers and parents of small children and their families and many other business owners who reside at Vulintaba and commute daily to and from Newcastle, who are forced to use the D96 road on a daily basis.
In short: People who DO PAY rates and taxes!
The municipal section of this road is approximately 5 km long, and the responsibility for maintenance and fixing is the municipality's (after which it is (meant to be) maintained by the Provincial Department of Transport and Roads…). also none forthcoming!
All who live and travel the road daily know that no maintenance has been done on this road for many, many years!
It is quite frankly in a worse than shocking condition, and some residents have taken matters into their own hands to maintain some of the huge potholes along this road.
This is not okay.
Collectively the farm owners and residents along this road (farmers, Vulintaba Estate and Thorn Hill Estate) pay rates and taxes to the municipality to the tune of R1 074 810.00 per annum – more than a million rand!
And what do they get for it? Nada NIL – and residents and road users are now GATVOL ('potholed-out').
All the residents along this road pay ESKOM directly for electrical services, have their own septic tanks and provide their own water supply – all the municipality provides residents is the occasional refuse removal (for which they pay, over and above the rates and tax bills!), and the rest goes straight into municipal or government coffers!!
No road maintenance is forthcoming, even after numerous requests and in-person visits by residents along this road.
The taxpayers and users of the D96 road are playing their part.
We respectfully ask that the Newcastle Municipality do the same. We ask for service delivery of the repair of the D96 road.
D96 ROAD USERS AND 'SLAG-GATVOL' TAXPAYERS
ALSO READ: NPO calls for support in battle against D96 Mine
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