The Democratic Alliance welcomes the Eastern Cape provincial government’s engagement with Agri Eastern Cape on the province’s deteriorating road network. However, communities and the agricultural sector have heard promises of cooperation and improved communication before.
The crisis facing the province’s rural roads is not the result of inadequate communication. Farmers, businesses, communities, and road users have repeatedly reported collapsing roads, dangerous potholes, damaged bridges, and maintenance backlogs for years.
The problem is that these warnings have not been followed by adequate maintenance, realistic budgets, effective project management, or timely intervention.
Recent flooding has undoubtedly caused further damage, but it has also exposed the consequences of years of deferred maintenance. Roads that were already deteriorating were left especially vulnerable, cutting communities off from essential services and disrupting agricultural production.
Reliable roads are fundamental to the rural economy. Farmers need functioning transport routes to move workers, livestock, agricultural inputs, and produce. When these roads fail, the consequences extend beyond individual farms. Jobs, food security, emergency services, school transport, and local businesses are all affected.
Quarterly meetings and improved communication will have little value unless they produce measurable action.
The DA will write to the chairpersons of the Agriculture and Transport portfolio committees to request a joint sitting of the committees to identify affected agricultural and rural roads requiring urgent intervention, discuss details of the budgets available for repairs and routine maintenance, clear implementation timelines and responsible officials, an explanation of how flood-damaged roads will be assessed and repaired, and a mechanism through which progress can be publicly monitored.
The provincial government must also clarify what alternative road-building and maintenance technologies are being considered, where these will be implemented, and how their effectiveness and value for money will be measured.
The DA will continue to hold the provincial government accountable to ensure that government discussions produce tangible results, turning into safer roads and improvements for the agricultural sector and rural communities