The power of social media was proven once again this month when an individual took to Facebook to vent her frustration about the state of Mpumalanga’s roads – and it paid off. The Mpumalanga department of public works, roads and transport has promised that the badly deteriorated R36 between Machadodorp and Mashishing will be rehabilitated in the 2014/2015 financial year. “The MEC will announce plans for the provincial road network during the 2014/15 Policy and Budget Speech, including plans for the R36,” said department spokesman Dumisani Malumele. Fed up with the difficulties arising from the potholes along Mpumalanga’s R36, guest farm owner Alison Botha posted a tonguein- cheek photo of her friend, Rosie Morrison, taking a bath in a big pothole on the R36. She told FTW this road had been unusable for many years, mainly due to heavy duty trucks transporting equipment to the mines as there is no viable railway system.
