An open letter to the president: addressing the pothole crisis

An open letter to Mr "Rampathole"

Dear Mr President

WE ALL heard you talk about the poor condition of roads and infrastructure in Johannesburg before criticising the Johannesburg mayor and Gauteng premier for this. And your instructions were clear - get this sorted before the big G20 meetings later this year. 

I found that interesting. And mind you, you’re right. This has to be done. But when you were saying this, I immediately thought you were missing something. What about the rest of the people of South Africa? What about the potholes? The last I heard, pothole repair was not rocket-science. So why has it taken the G20 to get you to speak about potholes. Why have you never spoken about our potholes – you know the ones all over the country?

Are our potholes not important? The other night I was entering a major highway and lo and behold, there were two of our potholes on the onramp – large buggers! It had to take swift maneuvering to miss them.

Your speech last week was also a wonderful example of “passing the buck”. We have had our potholes for a long time. They got worse and worse – right in front of our noses – in the last 5 years. And our potholes have not been good - they have ruined thousands upon thousands of tyres and shocks.

I was a victim of this – not one, not two, not three – many more times.

In spite of all of this Mr President, you have never uttered a word about our potholes – only the G2 potholes. It hurts me. In fact, there is a sizable pothole outside your Durban residence - King’s House - for several months. I urge others to check for themselves – take pictures. I know this because my son points them out every time we drive on this road.

In fact, he gave our president a new name because of this. He now calls him "Mr Ramapotholes".

So, dear Mr President, I write on behalf of my son (who named you) and the millions of others, when we say that this is not a provincial or a city problem. Our potholes are your problem. It is time you started fixing them before sending more troops to the DRC to defend your family’s mines. Your citizens also need protection.

ANONYMOUS

Durban

** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL or Independent Media. 

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