Business slams collapse of infrastructure

​Business owners have raised concerns about the rate at which public infrastructure and service delivery are deteriorating in the JB Marks municipality and could repel investors.

Leader of the Chamber of Commerce, Jonathan Baron, told Sowetan that the collapse of public infrastructure and service delivery started about three years ago and it was bad for the image of the JB Marks municipality.

"We have seen a decay in infrastructure in smaller towns in our region," said Baron.

"In those three years, we have been picking up issues of basic service delivery which obviously is a worrying sign. 

"For an economy to thrive, we don't necessarily need the municipality to do a lot of economic development themselves... If the public infrastructure is in place, you naturally attract people and businesses in the area," he said.

"We have seen the roads deteriorating at a fair rate and I think this is just an issue of maintenance. There is no proper maintenance planning and budget. There is a lack of capacity. There is also a problem of water shortage... water leaks: water that just goes out and run on the road."

He said refuse collection was also a source of headache and at the time of the interview refuse had not been collected for weeks.

The uncollected waste was strewn along the city centre, making Potchefstroom and Ventersdorp unattractive places to do business in, he said. "This is unhygienic and it makes us residents of the [municipality] not to feel good about our city.

"We don't want people driving into our city and seeing that there is just refuse everywhere. That's not the community we are in our hearts. It is very disappointing to us [business community] that the municipality has not been able to sort this out," he said.

Baron said he wished the municipality could sort out the refuse collection problem soon. "It is difficult for us to go out and say, 'bring your business to [JB Marks municipality]', and when the [investor] drives here and says 'look at these roads'. If I drive around at night the street lights are not working. They will ask what is the situation about electricity, water and refuse that is lying around.

"This puts us in a position where the [towns] cannot thrive. We need to get more small businesses and jobs. One cannot do that in a place where municipal service delivery is not up to scratch and municipal infrastructure is degrading," he said.

He said the business community was not just folding its hands. "We are currently in the process of fixing main roads that are going through Potchefstroom, which is an initiative we started with the municipality. Business has already given out R800,000 to fix main traffic arteries through Potchefstroom," he said.

Baron said putting the municipality under administration never bore any fruit.