After completing the four kilometres paved road in the Thembalihle township earlier this year, the Phumelela Local Municipality in the Eastern Free State has embarked on improving more roads within the area.

The municipality spent R20-million on the four kilometre road and has already appointed a contract to build a new road at a cost of R2.5-million.

The executive mayor, Tlokotsi Motaung, said that the construction of the current 500 meter road is expected to be completed by the end of this month.

“I am happy with progress of construction work done so far. With only 30 percent of work left, I believe that the contractor will meet his deadline and complete the construction by the end of this month.”

“We are working hard to improve the living conditions of our residents. However, building of roads is one of our key priorities identified by community members during our IDP consultations. We have held meetings with the residents and they complained that their roads are not in good condition especially when the rain falls heavily,” said Motaung.

He said the municipality has received funding from the department of agriculture to help with the implementation of the Batho Pele principle which seeks to enhance the quality and accessibility of government services by improving efficiency and accountability to the recipients of public services.

The construction of another R10-million two kilometre paved road is scheduled to commence in two weeks.

A local resident, Lindiwe Dlamini, said the community is pleased that the municipality took their concerns about the deteriorating roads seriously.

“Over the years we have seen municipalities and the provincial government ignoring our problems but now I see promises being fulfilled one-by-one. I use to have a serious problem when I have to go to work in the morning during rainy season. What the municipality is doing is helping us a lot,” said Dlamini.