Residents threaten: “No tar road, no vote.”
BURGERSFORT
Residents from several Fetakgomo Tubatse villages, including Sehunyane, Magobading, Phala, Motloulela, Malokela, Kgopaneng, Makubu,
Pidima, Maphoko, Makofane and Morulaneng are standing in solidarity saying, ” No tar road, no vote.”
These residents are dissatisfied with the current road upgrades on the D4140. Residents said they had expected Road Agency Limpopo (RAL) to tar the road from Sehunyane to Morulaneng.
On December 12, 2024, these communities gathered in protest, pleading with the Limpopo government to upgrade the road. It had been tarred for about 12km, from Sehunyane to Malokela, while about 18km from Malokela to Morulaneng remained gravel.
Speaking to Sekhukhune Times, resident Ronny Mohlala demanded that the Limpopo government improve all the parts of the road. “We are totally
unhappy with what the government is doing. They are only tarring the road from Sehunyane to Malokela; we demand the whole road to Morulaneng to be tarred.”
Mohlala said the community members had been promised a road since 2006. “It has been 19 years of false promises from the Limpopo government.”
“This road project is used by politicians to steal government’s money. Politicians also benefit by tendering and patching potholes,” he alleged.
Mohlala said they are planning to shun the upcoming municipal electians if their wishes are not fulfilled. “Placards of No tar road, no vote, are ready, why do we have to vote while services are not provided to us”?
According to the members of the D4140 Road Forum, in 2006, the former Limpopo MEC for roads and transport, Justice Pitso, made a commitment to tar the road. “Designs for the road and environmental impact assessments were done, both social and technical, and consultants and associates were appointed. The transition that took
place between 2008 and 2010 that resulted in the reshuffling of MECs in Limpopo impacted negatively on our road project.”
In September 2025, Limpopo DA called on the current MEC for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, Ernest Rachoene, to urgently prioritise the completion of the neglected D4140.
“For many years, this vital stretch of road infrastructure has remained unfinished despite previous commitments, to the detriment of
residents and road users. Parts of this road have been left in a dangerous and near unusable state, with rocky terrain that becomes slippery and hazardous during rainy seasons,
and dusty and disruptive during dry periods. The affected residents deserve more than empty promises; they deserve safe, functional road
infrastructure and leaders who are responsive to their challenges,” said DA Cllr Thabo Makofane.
The D4140 connects 11 villages to the R37. The residents reiterated that tarring the whole road will improve the local economy and reduce traffic on the busy R37.
Both the RAL and Limpopo public works were contacted for comment and had yet to respond at the time of going to press
