Olebogeng Baikgaki’s statement comes amid motorists’ complaints about the poor state of roads in the province.

It also comes ahead of Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s third budget, which is expected to be tabled on Wednesday.

Godongwana’s rejected budget in March had indicated that the provincial Roads Department would fix more than 16 000 kilometres of roads.

Meanwhile, the roads agency SA National Roads Agency SOC Ltd, which is maintaining 40 roads in the North West, is expected to spend an estimated $1.66 million on road projects in the province in the current financial year. Baikgaki says the provincial economy cannot grow if roads remain potholed.

“If we have poor road infrastructure, that will have a negative impact on vehicle performance. Fuel efficiency will be affected by this, and again, the issue of access to the market might be a problem because people won’t be able to access the markets easily. They’ll have to drive around and take longer to arrive at certain markets. It’s not going to be easy if we have poor road infrastructure for people to move about, especially companies. Be it manufacturing or agricultural products, they cannot be moved with ease.”

--SABC--