Potholes are burying Rosendal
The R70 is so riddled with potholes that tourists are being driven away and farmers' livelihoods are on the line
A new year's getaway by travel blogger Lelo Boyana has uncovered the economic devastation being wrought by the pothole-ridden R70 to Rosendal in the Free State.
The town is heavily dependent on tourism and agriculture, and business owners have been watching their incomes dry up as it deteriorates.
“This road is the worst I have ever driven on,” said Boyana, worse than the Drakensberg's Kamberg Valley route she travelled in 2021.
Boyana, who visited Rosendal for the first time, described the town between Ficksburg and Senekal as beautiful, with hidden gems and friendly people she would like to visit again. “But the road is a serious deterrent because for 30km you are forced to duck and dive potholes. No one should have to drive on such a road.”
She said it is more potholes than tar. “It cannot be called a road, yet this community is forced to drive here every day.”
“I am grateful to have made it home safely. I shudder to imagine what it is like for someone who doesn’t know what to expect, driving through there at night.”
On sections of the road the potholes were too many to count, she said, adding: “You are forced to drive on the wrong side of the road to try to dodge them.”
Residents have repeatedly flagged the need for urgent repairs with the provincial government and transport department.
Bonni Meyer, a Rosendal/Mautse town committee member, said the area has about 50 guest houses and five restaurants which rely on visitors.
“People come here to unwind and rest — it’s quiet. In the past we would have a lot of tourists come in from neighbouring towns like Senekal and Ficksburg, but now people don’t want to come any more,” she said.
Meyer, who manages Rosendal Country Retreat, said the conditions are affecting local businesses.
In addition to fewer tourists, the road is needed by farmers transporting livestock, maize and other products, she said.
“Job security is on the line in the farming community because things have just gone [down] too much for the farmers. Some of the clients don’t want to go and collect [products] any more because the road is dangerous.”
Meyer said after multiple engagements with government, it promised the road would be repaired before the end of 2022, but this did not happen.
“From time to time they have teams of 100 people filling potholes, but they do it randomly. So you have got a little spot that is fixed, but they don’t have a start and end point. They just stop halfway.”
Meyer said farmers tried to repair the potholes but the provincial government stopped them, insisting they were not allowed to repair roads alone.
Compared with 2021, she said restaurants were generating only half their income because day visitors did not want to use the road.
“We have some restaurants on the brink of collapse, with owners saying it is not worth doing business here any more. The moment we lose our restaurants, we lose attraction to the town.”
Liela Magnus, owner of Benjamin's restaurant, confirmed the road impacted the number of patrons.
“It also has an effect on the time we spend away from our businesses because it takes longer to go, for instance, to Bethlehem to buy stock. We have to close our businesses to do so.
“It takes about two hours longer now, whereas it should take about 20 minutes. It damages our cars and it has a detrimental impact on our businesses, many of which are small,” Magnus said.
Free State department of police, roads & transport spokesperson Hillary Mophethe said the R70 from Ficksburg/Rosendal/Senekal was on the business plan for the 2022/2023 financial year, with project design completed.
“The specification of this project is ready to be presented to the bid specification committee and should be done early in February 2023 for the financial year of 2023/2024.”
The project will be two-phase — Ficksburg to Rosendal and Rosendal to Senekal — and will be advertised at the beginning of March, she said.
“The service provider will be appointed in June. The estimated cost for the entire project is R450m and the scope of work will be special maintenance (rehabilitation).”
Mophethe said contractors had been appointed under the Vala Zonke pothole programme to assist with repairs in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district municipality, pending the department's work on a permanent solution for the R70.
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