Residents of Cradock are very concerned about the town’s main Adderley Street that was re-tarred at the end of 2021 and now has a stream of water coming up through the tar.
The Inxuba Yethemba Municipality (IYM) negotiated a contract of R34.5 million with a company, whose head office is in Johannesburg, to re-tar portions of Frere, Adderley, Sprigg and Cawood streets in the town.
The problem in Adderley Street started quite soon after completion of the work in December 2021.
At first, water bubbled out of a hole in the tar that was eventually closed up by workers from Chris Hani District Municipality. It looks as though it was filled-up with red soil.
Very soon after the first hole was closed, water started bubbling out of a second hole and nothing has so far been done in the three weeks since its appearance to try to close the hole. A third hole appeared on Tuesday (24 May)
Streets in Cradock are in a very bad condition, with thousands of potholes and residents are grateful that some of the streets are being repaired.
The work in Frere Street, at a cost of R8.5 million for 380m, looks good, but people are concerned about what is happening in Adderley Street where the cost was R6.5 million for 550m. The rest of the tender amount will be utilised for re-tarring portions of Sprigg and Cawood Streets.
Despite three attempts requesting comments from Inxuba Yethemba Municipality’s municipal manager, Mkhululi Mbebe, no response had been received by the time of going to print.