Tourist Route To The Kruger National Park A “Deathtrap”

By Melissa Wray - In the Lowveld

Tourist route a “deathtrap” One of the major routes to the lowveld and the Kruger National Park is currently a pothole paradise– and that’s not the road to the world famous Bourke’s Luck potholes, but the provincial road that brings tourists to the many attractions of Limpopo and Mpumalanga. Several kilometers road between Ohrigstad and Hoedspruit (R36) near the Abel Erasmus pass are currently so potholed that outraged tour operators are calling it a “death trap" and saying that a major accident is practically a certainty.

However, no hope is in sight for a quick fix. Having recently traveled the route, Pat Furno, marketing and business development director ofKer & Downey said, “I truly thought I was in some out back area in the middle of Africa. The potholes in some areas were as wide as the car and deep enough to slash tyres or damage wheels extensively.

The cars traveling in both directions were affected and it was like playing ‘dodgem cars’ as we all drive to avoid the holes. ”His comments are backed up by another traveller, Chris Steer, who says that “In some areas there is more gravel than tar!… To think tourist buses use this route gives me the jitters.” Garth McFarlane from award winning McFarlane Safaris adds ,“We had foreign guests in our Hoedspruit office recently who had completely destroyed the wheel rim and tyre on their hired car.

They were shattered as they only just managed to avoid a major accident as well." The road in question lies in both the Mpumalanga and Limpopo Provinces, and the heavily potholed area lies close to the old provincial boundary.

As this area is one where provincial boundaries have recently been amended, the potholed section was transferred from Mpumalanga to Limpopo in June 2006. The government agencies responsible for fixing the roads in the two provinces exchanged some of their respective responsibilities in a handover ceremony this October. Provincial roads are taken care of by two bodies in Limpopo – the department of roads and transport, and the parastatal Roads Agency Limpopo (RAL).

The department of roads and transport fixes the occasional pothole, but in the case of the extreme potholing between Ohrigstad and Hoedspruit the road is considered to be collapsing. Rebuilding the road is the responsibility of Roads Agency Limpopo. However, both departments are beset with financial woes. Sources in the department or roads and transport say that their budget has only increased fromR311 to R313 million over the last five years, clearly not keeping pace with inflation and rising fuel costs.

In addition, there is no money to replace road-building equipment, with more than 80 percent of the machines being over 20 years old. To compound the matter, flood damage to Limpopo’s roads during the last rainy season is estimated to total R1.3 billion, and the question of when and if these funds will materialise is a thorny issue.

Roads Agency Limpopo is also cash-strapped when it comes to theR36. Assistant communications manager from RAL, Bernard Manyathela, says that “plans are being put in place” to fix the road, but as no budget was transferred along with the road when the provinces exchanged responsibilities, the earliest that this can be expected is in the 2007/08 financial year.

This does not help the tour operators who feel that fixing the tourist route should be a priority. Furno says, “The shocking state of the condition of this road should be addressed immediately.” McFarlane agrees and concludes, “Must we wait for a fatality before something happens?”