Entrepreneurial Potholes
[Johnie Jonker’s winning letter in Leisure Wheels, June 2010]
The May issue of LW requests readers to submit solutions to the pothole problem we have on our roads. I have no answer as yet, but rather a related problem, which may be even worse in the long-term than the original one.
Travelling between Jozini and Kosi Bay during March 2008 on a dreadful road – where at places only the east-bound half still had a strip of tar – we encountered the following on our way to Ponta do Ouro:
On a section where both road lanes were still tarred but showing rapid signs of decay in the form of substantial potholes, we approached an industrious group of pikanins seemingly repairing a pothole by filling it with soil from the side of the road.
Perhaps the word “approached” is a bit strong, as one moment the road was empty and the next, there was this little guy, barely a head taller than the spade handle – and equally thin – carrying soil across the road towards the pothole.
When he “noticed” us, he stood by the side of the road waiting patiently. However, when I did not slow down sufficiently to his liking and he realised I might not stop and reward him for his initiative, he stepped into the road with INTENT, the spade aggressively held out before him to the extent that I was wondering whether he was actually going to take a swipe at the car and having to take evasive action.
OK, so other than not responding well to threats, why did I not stop and reward him? If not for his efforts, however temporary they may be, then at least for his entrepeneurship or cuteness.
Should you have travelled that road in the condition it was in at the time, you would have noticed in your rear-view mirror – as soon as you had passed the pothole – the following:
More spade-bearing “contractors” appearing out of the bushes, starting to frantically remove the soil from the pothole, dumping it next to the side of the road again, thereby restoring the pothole to original condition. Then disappearing into the bushes, waiting to ply their racket to the next ignorant passer-by.
So in addition to the physical problem – potholes – we now also have a social problem. In pretty much the same way that wild animals, when becoming accustomed to being fed by sympathetic tourists, become aggressive when denied the treat. Many people can attest to the “gangster” behaviour of the baboons between Miller’s Point around to Cape Point, which has the same origins as those above.
Therefore, howEVER the potholes are fixed, it better be SOON.
JJJ