Our Gatvol Mix fills the gap: How potholes are building relationships

“Fallen infrastructure is everybody’s problem, black and white all suffer from it, and the only way we are going to sustainably fix our problems is if we do it together.”

This is according to Johan Erasmus, a director of the not-for-profit Betereinders — Be One movement, whose goal is reconciliation while fixing potholes with its Gatvol Mix.

Its motto is “stop complaining, do good, work together”. The organisation works mainly through churches as Erasmus is a pastor.

The initiative is a game-changer in that it gets people to be part of a solution, while mending relationships across racial lines, he believes.

“We mainly want to get white people to be part of the solution in the country, specifically Afrikaners. We have a lot of friends who help facilitate that, but Betereinders is a door through which to get Afrikaners into a room with other South Africans.”

Its Afrikaans name was deliberately chosen as it plays on the never-say-die Bittereinders (Boer commandos that fought the British in the second Boer War of the late 1800s to early 1900s), with the organisation dedicated to bringing about “better endings” for everyone in our country.

“We basically just identify potholes that annoy us in our area, but we’ve got lots of activities in townships. We fix potholes there, play a game of soccer and have a braai together. That’s part of the bigger reconciliation events.

“What we try to say is: you need to fix your own potholes in your own community — just come and fetch the mix, this is how much it costs and this is what it will achieve.”

Erasmus works with co-director Schalk van Heerden, who said repairs were done in five easy steps:

1. Stop feeling sorry for yourself and get Betereinders Gatvol Mix, a broom and a shovel.
2. Identify a pothole.
3. Take a broom and gently wipe the edges of the pothole so it is clearly visible.
4. Put the Gatvol Mix in, no preparation needed, and ensure it is a few centimetres above the road.
5. Take the shovel and smash it in until it looks neat and is compacted.

Erasmus said this can be done in two minutes. One only needs a little basic training.

“If you are middle class and you’ve got potholes in your neighbourhood, you’ve got no excuse to moan about that because you can buy this product.

“We also have this scheme that if you are just a white guy or a black guy and you want to buy the mix it's going to cost you R200, but if you do it with a black friend or a white friend you get a R50 discount,” he said.

The group is now producing its mix with youngsters in Brandvlei, a township south of Johannesburg. Erasmus said this was their biggest success story.

“We’ve got a little community of guys there and they are producing this mix. We got a donation of R10,000 to set them up, so they have a production plant there. We are very excited because that’s a township business providing us with the mix.

“We were also able to start a company like that in the township in Gqeberha and they are also producing the mix. We are excited about that because if you buy it you are actively helping a township business.”

Erasmus said they have fixed thousands of potholes in Gauteng. “We have fixed potholes in Soshanguve, Mamelodi, Brandvlei, Carletonville and Thembisa. We've done a big drive at Marble Hall where we fixed hundreds. But I think it's safe to say that in Pretoria, Joburg and the surrounding townships we fixed thousands of potholes. By 'we' I mean different people — I don’t know everyone [involved].”

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