Seriously?! Another pole stuck in middle of new road

A newly tarred R10.5m road has an electricity pole stuck right in the middle of it.

Sowetan reported that the tarring of the road in Lebowakgomo, Limpopo, started in May and was scheduled to be completed and operating by October 22.

There was no clear explanation why the pole wasn’t removed before tar was laid around it, the newspaper reported.

Lepelle-Nkumpi municipal spokesperson Khali Maphoso told Sowetan the situation was “not that bad, because the road is not officially opened”.

“We have written to Eskom applying for the electric pole to be removed and the process is under way. The completed road will be open in the next two months,” he said.

This is the second incident of its kind to make the news recently, after the Mpumalanga municipality had to remove an Eskom pole that was rooted in the middle of a paved road.

The irregular construction occurred in Acornhoek, Bushbuckridge.

TimesLIVE quoted Bushbuckridge municipality spokesperson Aubrey Mnisi as saying this was as a result of home stands being allocated to residents without following proper processes.

“There are no infrastructure plans for that.”

After Eskom erected the power lines, the municipality found that some of the poles were placed in the middle of the road, Mnisi said.

“We appointed engineers who were doing designs, but they could not remove the poles. We had to make a request to Eskom, who took some time. The engineer ended up giving the contractor the go-ahead to put paving down, with the intention to remove it later. That’s what happened.”