Reitz Street to get R500k facelift as Makhado tackles road woes

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03-11-2025
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Zoutnet
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With the rainy season at hand, local DA ward councillor Pierre Smalle has recently asked the Makhado Municipality to pay urgent attention to the poor condition of several streets in Louis Trichardt. On a positive note, a contract was handed over last week to a contractor for the rehabilitation of at least one of the streets on the DA’s list of those needing attention.

The site handover for the rehabilitation of Reitz Street, under tender number 52 of 2023, took place on 20 October. The contract value is R505,792.43, and the appointed contractor is Luzuko Trading Enterprise. The expected completion date is 20 January 2026.

Similar to Stubbs Street, the asphalt surface in Reitz Street is to be replaced with interlocking paving bricks. As for the scope of work, this includes the removal of 65 metres by eight metres of asphalt (possibly indicating that the road will be rehabilitated in phases), a rapid base layer of 150mm, stabilising and compacting the base layer, the laying of kerbs, pest control, etc.

For Smalle, seeing that Reitz Street will be receiving attention is a victory. In January 2024, he had already requested the Makhado Municipality to upgrade Reitz Street in light of the newly opened Crestcare Zoutpansberg Private Hospital.

“The board of the hospital has urgently requested through the ward councillor, which is myself, that the municipality’s technical department working on roads do inspection and consider upgrading or refurbishing the section of Reitz Street on the west side of the hospital,” Smalle wrote.

On 26 August this year, Smalle wrote to the municipality’s director of technical services, asking for urgent repairs to a list of 20 streets in Louis Trichardt, which included Reitz Street. The other streets included Rietbok-, Protea-, Malva- (which has basically reverted back to a dirt road), Leopard-, Dahlia-, Olifant-, Zinnia-, Buffel-, Eland-, Poinsettia-, Cronjé-, Kock-, Jeppe-, Douthwait-, Anderson-, Rissik-, De Beer-, Joubert- and Wolmarans Street. It’s a long list, and the work that needs to be done is daunting.

In the meantime, the DA in Louis Trichardt has also circulated a petition which drew more than 200 signatures from people requesting the Makhado Municipality to upgrade and extend Tshirululini Street to Ridgeway Preparatory School along Roodewal Road to improve student and parent safety when travelling to and from the school, especially on wet and rainy days. Currently, and for many decades now, the road turns from tar to gravel at the eastern end of Tshirululini Street. A copy of the petition was handed to the Makhado Municipality last week, on 20 October.