Pretoria - The pothole problem in the City of Tshwane has created an opportunity for unemployed youth in the townships to earn roughly R300 by working the roads to assist motorists to drive smoothly.
Much like car guards work at parking lots and in the CBD streets, these young men have their own territories where they work every day and collect donations from grateful motorists.
They liken their work to collecting scrap for recycling purposes because there is always a need for them to come and work every day and that does not seem like it will ever stop.
Working pothole prone roads in Mabopane can earn the young men over R300 a day as long as they start early during peak hour and return again in the afternoon when commuters return from work.
Siblings, Sipho, 29 and Kabelo Masango, 30, have become popular to motorists and residents of Morula View for working the potholes on Lucas Mangope Road that is also used by people visiting Legae Mediclinic and Morula View Shopping Centre in Mabopane.
The siblings said they live with their parents who are both unemployed and the money helps to put food on the table sometimes, and to also buy themselves toiletries because they need to keep clean like their peers.
Sipho Masango said: "This has become a job to us because this road is always wet from leaking sewage. The municipal workers never come here to patch the potholes so it is our job to keep this section drivable.
"People give us some coins and we keep putting them aside and leaving the tin with just a few to shake it and make some noise as they drive past.
"The work is actually very tiring because we first remove the water early in the morning and then pour sand. However, some people do not see that so they think we just pour sand and wait to collect money. That is why we are grateful to those who give us something just to say thank you."
Kagiso Mabu, 30, who works on the potholes near the intersection of Hebron Road and Molefe Makinta Highway said the roads get very busy during peak hours and can he generate around R250 on a good day because he shares the road with others.
"I have been doing this work for more than three years now. It all started just randomly looking for something to do to earn some money and this was something I had seen other people do since childhood. It doesn't require much but a spade and a bucket.
"It is not a permanent job so sometimes I leave it to wash cars and come back when it rains because motorists are more giving when it rains because the potholes are just everywhere. The water mostly covers them and they damage their cars by dipping into them. So when you work in times like that you can make good money."
The City of Tshwane has just launched the R46 million refurbished Bon Accord quarry crusher plant in Pretoria North to address the potholes problem by producing its own asphalt to patch the roads without needing to go through procurement from external producers.
Pretoria News