Bumpy roads leave residents grumpy

Cafda Village’s roads, many of which are still little more than the concrete paving laid almost half a century ago, are showing their age with gaping holes and cracks, and residents say it’s time the City of Cape Town fixed them and posted adequate signage.

Cafda Village resident Shaun Brown says navigating the neighbourhood’s dilapidated roads can prove both costly and dangerous.

“I’ve had to replace shock absorbers several times, more often than usual because of the condition of the roads.

“Many times I have to swerve to avoid the potholes, but then I put myself and my family’s lives in danger because there’s the possibility that I could collide into another car,” said Mr Brown.

There were also no stop signs or road markings in the suburb, he said. “One example is at the intersections of Blagden and Komlossy streets as well Komlossy and Gordon Searle streets.

“There are no stop signs, so cars coming from either way think they have the right of way to drive. There has been many times when cars would nearly ram into each other because there’s just no sign that they should slow down or stop,” he said.

Another resident, Cybil Groenewald, said she had written several letters to the City asking for the roads to be fixed.

“Our community looks horrible. The roads are in a bad state, and there is little to no markings at many intersections.

Earlier this year, the City fixed two roads, but those aren’t the roads that needed to fixed,” said Ms Groenewald.

“If this were a well-off area our requests would have been dealt with immediately, but because this is a poor area our concerns aren’t met with as much urgency,” she said. However, the City says it spent R990 000 fixing Cafda’s road in the last financial year and more work will be done soon.

“There are a number of roads within the Cafda area, which is on our maintenance programme for resurfacing.

“These will be attended to as soon as the priority attached thereto is sufficient to include within our available budget allocation for resurfacing,” said Brett Herron, mayoral committee member for transport.

He said roads were prioritised based on several criteria, including inspections, complaints and the importance of the road link. But the overriding factor was the condition of the road.

Mr Herron said officials will assess the roads in Komlossy Street and other roads in the area to see what sort of action was needed.

Asked about the scant signage in the area, Mr Herron said: “Theft of signage is sometimes a problem.

“The local Transport for Cape Town depot will ensure that the stop markings are repainted at critical intersections in the interim.

“Road markings within the Cafda area will be addressed within the new financial year starting 1 July 2016.”