The ANC government and its policy is the biggest cause of the poor condition of Free State roads.
The Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, admitted earlier this week during his Vala Zonke road project, that corruption is seriously affecting the Free State’s road infrastructure.
The root of the problem, however, lies much deeper than the Minister would like to admit. The provincial government has been neglecting the Free State’s roads for years as a result of corruption, but also as a result of the appointment of contractors who are unable to do the work, and a policy framework that does not prioritise infrastructure.
A lack of political and management stability in the Department of Police, Roads and Transport only adds to the many road projects that are dragging on without being completed.
The ANC has conveniently forgotten about the province forfeiting hundreds of millions of rand from national government in the form of conditional allocations for roads because incompetent contractors, who failed to complete projects, were appointed.
It is also the ANC government that does not consider the maintenance of infrastructure a priority. For this financial year, less than 7% of the total Free State budget was allocated to this Department.
The ANC is trying to downplay its corruption as a common occurrence in society. But it is not normal that the Free State lost millions of rand earmarked for repair work as a result of the ANC’s Black Economic Empowerment policy – which is used as a smokescreen for corruption – that caused the work to be done either too slowly or not at all.
Free State road users deserve a government that prioritises infrastructure, like roads.
Read the original article in Afrikaans by Armand Cloete on FF Plus
