Pretoria – Wierda Road (M10) will be re-opened before the end of September, AfriForum announced on Tuesday.
The road was closed to traffic in November last year between the N14 and Ashwood Drive after a sinkhole formed.
AfriForum said the road closure severely impacted businesses near the Wierda Bridge.
“However, six months after the road’s closure, government officials were still trying to determine which sphere of government, or possibly the Gautrain, should take responsibility for repairing the road,” said AfriForum.
The M10 serves as a main arterial route linking the western suburbs with Centurion CBD and the N14 and N1 highways.
AfriForum’s Private Prosecution Unit said it was approached by concerned businesspeople from Lots of Pots, Sasol Lyttelton Manor, Royal Elephant Hotel, and the KappiChino coffee bar “pleading for help” to have the road repaired and re-opened.
The unit said it wrote a letter to the Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Kedibone Diale Tlabela, about the effect the road closure was having on livelihoods and jobs in the area.
“This was the beginning of a unique and very successful engagement between government, civil society, business people, private contractors, and service providers to speedily assess the extent of the sinkhole and develop a plan to fix it to ensure the road is reopened,” AfriForum said.
The unit said regular early morning meetings were initiated and were led by the unit’s head, Advocate Gerrie Nel.
“Government’s willingness to openly engage with us during monthly early morning meetings attended by the Deputy Director General (DDG) for Roads and Transport, Mmaphuti Mokobane, and various senior members of his department, as well as Anton Els and Pieter Smith from Lots of Pots and our team resulted in prioritising the re-opening of the road,” said Advocate Nel.
“The unit would also like to extend a special word of thanks to Hendrik van den Berg from Civil Concepts and Henk Daling, representing Bondev as private contractors, for their efforts and contributions to resolving the problem.”
AfriForum said: “Words were soon put into action and repair work began in earnest. Heavy machinery soon moved on site, and excavation and earthworks got underway”.
AfroForum said in the last of several productive meetings, DDG Mokobane assured that the road would be re-opened before the end of September.
“Opportunities to commend the government do not come often, but we commend Mr Mokobane and his team,” said Advocate Nel.
“We hope that the success has impressed on all the realisation of the effect of open engagement and commitment to solving infrastructure problems.”
Advocate Nel added: “The business community, particularly Anton Els and Pieter Smith from Lots of Pots, illustrated that more can be achieved, and community concerns addressed through open and constructive engagement rather than having to take to the streets in violent protest seeking to attract attention to problems which severely impact the livelihood of affected communities.”
Smith reflected on the impact the road closure has had on his business.
“Due to Lots of Pots’ location, our business was severely impacted by the road closure in November 2022,” said Pieter Smith from Lots of Pots.
“We have lost many customers due to the detour they have to take to get to our business and it will take a lot of effort, time, and financial resources to get them back.
“Not only did the closure of the road negatively impact Lots of Pots Centurion, but other businesses, residents, and commuters also suffered for the past 10 months.
“Lots of Pots is very grateful for the cooperation and commitment we had from authorities and other stakeholders regarding the repair of Wierda Road.”
