‘Enough with the speed bumps!’ – Business Chamber

Last week the Mokopane Business Chamber’s Andy Goetsch and Corinus du Toit met with Mogalakwena Mayor, Thlalefi Mashamaite, to discuss the growing dissatisfaction amongst Mokopane residents over the increasing number of speed bumps in town.
“It is getting ridiculous,” Goetsch told Northern News on Monday. “One of our members lives just around the corner from the tennis courts, yet he as to drive over six speedbumps from his home to the tennis club,” he elaborated.
The business chamber feels the tar used for speedbumps can far better be applied on repairing the numerous potholes all over town. “Non-compliance with traffic regulations in general, of which speed is but one, is a traffic policing problem that should be addressed as a whole,” the chamber said in a press statement. “People are still double-parking and taxis are still picking up and dropping off people where it is not permissible,” Goetsch explained.
At Friday’s meeting the Chamber congratulated the Mayor on Mogalakwena Local Municipality placing third in SA for municipalities’ financial stability as reported in the Sunday Business Times of 30 June.
The Memorandum of Understanding recently signed between the AHI, the Dept of Cooperative Government (DCoG) and South African Local Government Association (SALGA) was brought to Masha-maite’s attention.
According to the chamber’s press statement, he expressed his willingness to engage with Mokopane Business Chamber (as an AHI affiliated business chamber) as a partner to address problematic issues. To this end he undertook to set up a meeting between senior municipal officials and the business chamber to discuss the way forward.
Meanwhile the municipality responded to queries from Northern News on the proliferation of speedbumps saying the construction of speed bumps is in reaction to requests for such bumps from the public.
Goetsch noted that everybody wants a speed bump in front of their home to ensure people don’t speed past your house, but placing a bump in front of everyone’s home who requests it is impractical and costly.
According to the municipality it costs R10 000 to build a single speed bump.
Municipal spokesperson, Malesela Selokela, also pointed out that there are several other traffic control measures in place in town.
“On Thabo Mbeki Street from Fruit and Veg supermarket until Gyser Street we have traffic signs that show that no hitch hiking, loading or off loading is allowed. We have traffic officers on those spots who issue fines to those who are breaking the traffic law.”