Durban - Potholes in South Africa have become a big problem, one that former Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula made big bold promises on, but ultimately failed to deliver before he was sent to run the ANC’s Luthuli House as secretary general.
Potholes also brought out President Cyril Ramaphosa and his tar surfacing machine to put on a cringe publicity stunt, patching a pothole in what appeared to be a dirt road.
But one gatvol South African, known only as Gerhard from Efficient Express, has found the solution, or so we hope.
Gerhard has shared a video of himself on TikTok spray-painting the letters “ANC“ next to various potholes.
Speaking in Afrikaans, Gerhard, a man narrating the video said he was tired of excuses and circled the potholes - branding them with the ruling party’s name.
From the content on his profile, the man appears to be working in the automotive industry, which could explain his frustration.
Days after sharing the video of himself spray-painting the potholes, he shared a video of municipal workers in their uniforms repairing the spots he had previously marked.
https://www.tiktok.com/@efficientexpress/video/7208598772660636933?is_from_webapp=1&sender_device=pc&web_id=7208872132762174981He approached one of the workers and thanked them for coming out.
“Buddy, I want to say thank you. I marked them nicely there yesterday. So I just want to say thank you,” he said.
It seems a little spray paint with the right words did the job that a minister earning R2.4 million per year, plus benefits, could not.
Mbalula was highly vocal about operation Vala Zonke, which had all the right the elements of a political stunt.
Mainstream media, government officials, branding and banners.
It did not follow through, however, and according to Sanral, needs much more intervention if it is to be successful.
Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona was quoted saying in Engineering News that a massive inter-governmental effort will be needed to fix the problem.
Sanral was appointed to spearhead the initiative.
A mobile application was also launched to allow residents to file a complaint about the location of a pothole.
Municipal roads are managed by municipalities through their roads entities, while provincial roads are managed by the provincial transport or roads department, who may also have their own roads entity, while national highways are managed by the national transport department through Sanral.