For motorists in Standerton, driving on the potholed streets and roads in and around the Mpumalanga town can be a matter of life and death.
The local taxi industry knows that fact very well as daily users of the town's roads, and is still shaken by the horror of a colleague's death last year.
Taxi driver Willy Nkabinde lost his life on the R50 – Standerton to Leandra road – after a truck that was avoiding a pothole drove into the oncoming traffic and collided with his Toyota Quantum head-on.
Nkabinde's friends at the Standerton taxi rank said his death is a stark reminder of how dangerous the roads in the area have become. They are reminded of his death when they drive past the spot where he perished.
Njabulo Shongwe said they drive in fear every day when they transport their passengers.
"The potholes are deep and when it rains they get deeper and more dangerous as they are covered with water, making it hard to spot when driving in the rain," Shongwe said.
"The potholes here have become shallow graves which damage vehicles or worse take lives."
Motorists in Standerton blame the Lekwa local municipality for failing to maintain the roads. In some areas, particularly the townships, there are no tarred roads.
The poor state of the roads has been made worse by recent heavy rains. It's a bumpy ride all over town, with motorists being forced off the road in some parts to avoid the dangerous holes.
Many locals now buy off-road vehicles such as bakkies to cope with the reality of driving on potholed roads all the time.
Jabu Ndlela said the pothole situation in the town was making driving very uncomfortable.
"I drive to work every morning and it's difficult to even see the deep potholes because there are no street lights in the roads leading out of the town," he said.
Ndlela said accidents happen frequently because of the potholes.
"There are lots of trucks travelling in and out. Some cutting through the town to join other towns and driving along with trucks on these damaged roads means risking an accident each day because all lanes have potholes."
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Ndlela said the municipality has done nothing much about the roads in the past five years.
"They only put soil in the deep holes instead of renovating the roads. We have no roads anymore and our cars just get destroyed and maintenance costs on our cars hit us hard in the pocket."
Lekwa municipality spokesperson Thobeka Mtshiselwa said the municipality has appointed a panel of service providers to supply materials for road maintenance and a budget provision of R2m made available for maintenance of streets and storm water drains.
"Furthermore a maintenance plan has been developed to address pothole crisis, subject to the availability of material," Mtshiselwa said.
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