Picture: The North West Premier, Bushy Maape along with Uni Jet representatives during a demonstration in Mahikeng
By OBAKENG MAJE
North West Premier, Bushy Maape said they are forging ahead in addressing potholes across the province. On Wednesday, Maape alongside the North West MEC for Public Works and Roads had a consultative engagement with the Uni Jet company that specialises in road rehabilitation.
“Today, we had to come and see how the jet patcher company is going to assist us in repairing potholes. As the North West Provincial Government (NWPG), we want to deal with damaged roads.
“This will assist us to have roads that are trafficable. Yes, I am impressed with the presentation, but we will give other companies an opportunity to come and demonstrate what they can do to join us in this campaign of repairing potholes,”
A few months ago, Maape came under siege after he allegedly said there were no potholes in North West province. Â
The North West MEC for Public Works and Roads, Oageng Molapisi shared the same sentiments. Molapisi said, Maape has directed them to ensure that they deal with all potholes across the province.
“We have given ourselves six months to deal with all potholes in the North West Capital City, Mahikeng. We are very much pleased that today, we have partnered with the jet patcher company, where they demonstrated their capacity.
“One of the unique things they are doing is the efficiency in what they are doing. Also, it is not time-consuming and in terms of the problem that we have with potholes, they go deeper than we normally do when fixing them,” he said.
Molapisi further said the Uni Jet company’s machinery is very unique and what is exciting is the time, speed, and efficiency they take in dealing with potholes. He added that they are partnering with Uni Jet company and of course, moving forward, they will engage them and see how they utilize them in re-sealing potholes in the province.
“For now, they are just demonstrating and obviously, they are in business. But, I am saying, they are coming in very handy. If they are bringing uniqueness to the services that they are doing, we might consider them moving forward.
“We will use their services where is necessary and we have identified five municipalities in the province, but it is not really our competence to deal with issues of potholes at the municipal level. However, we know that our municipalities do not have the capacity, so we will intervene and assist,” said Molapisi.
Meanwhile, the chairperson of Uni Jet company, Dr Bongani Mabizela said: “Let me start off by saying, we thank the opportunity to partner with the government. I think it is very important to understand the essence of a partnership between the private sector and the government on service delivery.
“More often, people think the private sector partners with the government because they want to make money. However, we are in for service delivery, and in this case of fixing potholes, we are in impactful accelerated service delivery.”
Mabizela said they are the only company in South Africa that manufacture jet patchers like theirs. He said they are bringing a unique method of re-sealing roads using automated machinery, which can create job opportunities.
The Guardian 