In line with its mandate to render technical advice and support to municipalities so that they optimise municipal infrastructure provision, Municipal Infrastructure Support Agent (MISA) is in a process of conducting rehabilitation and maintenance on the total length of 2,490km network of roads in Makhanda Central Business District (CBD), formerly known as Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape Province.

An increase in economic activities and lack of regular maintenance of the roads in the Makhanda CBD, in Makana Local Municipality over the years has led to deterioration which negatively impacted on the community especially motorists who have had their cars damaged as a result.

The project came as a result of an assessment of all roads in Makhanda which was conducted by Engineering Advice and Services, in 2017 as commissioned by Makana LM. The assessment results stated a need for all roads within the Makhanda CBD to be routinely maintained and rehabilitated to bring them to acceptable standards.

Some notable damages to the roads included potholes and cracks. The main scope of works includes the repairing of the base and surface failures; milling off the aged existing surface; priming; then overlaying with hot mix asphalt; reinstatement of stormwater infrastructure and kerbing. The new surfaces will receive new lane markings, as well as the installation of the required road signs and road furniture to address the damages.

The rehabilitation and maintenance are being carried in Somerset, High, New and Hill Streets. Speaking to Mrs. Sandra Mutangadura, a Professional Civil Engineer who is MISA Project Manager she said, “I’m satisfied with the quality of work and professionalism of the Engineer and the Contractor’s teams. I’m confident that these roads will be resilient through their design life.”

When asked about the project, Mr. Ntandazo Vimba, CEO of MISA, said “I am pleased with the work done so far, the team on the ground have shown much dedication since the beginning of the project in May 2021, and as such the project is running on schedule.  We anticipate that the work will be concluded in mid-November 2021 as per the project plan”. “The level of cooperation that we received from Makana LM from inception until now made it easy to implement this project with no hindrances.” He added.

The roads under maintenance are critical to the community of Makhanda as they provide access to Rhodes University, the High Court and retail stores.

The town is home to a hive of social activities like the annual Grahamstown Arts Festival, Science festivals and High School choral music festival which supports the economy of the town and livelihood to its residents. It is also a home to around 80 390 residents who access their services in the CBD.