An important supply link providing access for farmers in the Allanridge area of the central Free State has been lost to the community after a section of the R30 had been closed.
The parlous state of the road forced the Provincial Legislature to implement the decision about a week ago, cutting off farmers from access to silos for harvested grain.
It is not certain whether it’s on the R30 to the south, linking Allanridge with Odendaalsrus north of Welkom, or to the north towards Bothaville.
Apart from not having access to silos, farmers said they also can’t get to church.
Anger and frustration over the decision to close the road was vented at the province’s premier, Sisi Ntombela, at a meeting which the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, was also supposed to attend.
However, he didn’t turn up, leaving Ntombela to field questions about the wisdom of erecting a bridge at the section of the R30 that had been closed.
Concerns are that it’s a costly infrastructural upgrade that would keep the farmers cut off for too long.
A memorandum prepared for Mbalula by Free State Agriculture demands that the R30 be reopened within 24 hours, that stop-go precautionary measures be implemented to re-allow farmers access to silos and churches, and for immediate attention at national level to be given to the importance of maintaining the province’s road infrastructure.
It was mentioned, among other things, that significant employment could be created through improving the maintenance of gravel roads used by farmers to bring food to market.
