The T12 & P12 road which is currently known as DR08012 between Matatiele town and Maluti Township (R293) has been likened to a horror movie, titled “Wrong turn”. The movie is about a group of youngsters who decide to venture on a journey when they took a wrong turn and met disfigured cannibalistic mountain men who finally killed them. This is how Matatiele motorists, as well as the community in general, feel when driving from town to Maluti or vice vesa. Statistics from Matatiele SAPS and Traffic Department show that 124 accidents have taken place on this ghost road within the period of two years, with 11 reported deaths, the most recent carnage being a seven-year-old who died on a head-on collision at a popular destination (Rams) Golden near Maluti last weekend. Although it is suspected that the driver of the other vehicle was drunk, traffic officers say the main culprits are the ‘cannibalistic mountain men’ thus the Potholes. Four days after the accident, three km away from the scene three cars collided each other while they were also trying to avoid and/ or avert the potholes.
This notorious road is thin and does not have a clear barrier line to separate the lanes and reflective road markers which make it a nightmare to drive at night. Dineo Moeketsi (45) from Khoapa location in Matatiele who was involved in a head-on collision while driving with her two kids to town on this road in March earlier this year is still having nightmares about this road. The accident happened near the game reserve after her vehicle hit a pothole causing her to lose control and bump to an oncoming bakkie head-on.
Moeketsi sustained severe injuries than that of her kids which resulted in her being hospitalized for two months. The truth is, as a consequence of this quandary, everyone is indirectly affected whilst progress and services are seriously hindered. The Informer interviewed Moeketsi, a Maths and Science teacher at Phumelelo Senior Secondary a day after arriving home from Margate private hospital. She said she is very disappointed at the government for not attending to the issue of this road since people have long been complaining about it.
“Who is supposed to die in this road so that government can listen? Look I am injured meanwhile I have a burden of paying exorbitant medical expenses. The worst thing is that I have just received instructions from the insurance company of the other vehicle demanding payment of more than hundred thousand due to my negligence after hitting a pothole. I don’t know what to do, I am very hurt and frustrated”, concluded Moeketsi.
The bad condition of the roads in Matatiele generally is causing a headache to the community. Last year they decided to block all the roads entering the town in an effort to invite attention to the Provincial authorities, Eastern Cape Premier Pumullo Masualle came down to listen to them. He promised to send engineers and resources to work on the issue of the roads but in vain. Spokesperson of the Eastern Cape Department of Transport told The Informer that the Department will during the third quarter of this financial year commence with a resealing project in this road.
She said her Department has put aside a sum of R9.5m to reseal 11 km from Matatiele to Maluti. This therefore means that up until then members of the community in Matatiele are still faced with the horror of taking this “wrong turn to their final destination.”
