Milllions have been made available to repair potholes and other road infrastructure that was damaged by floods.

KZN Department of Transport has launched Operation Vala’mapotholes – an operation aimed at eradicating potholes on KZN roads.

Launched on Monday by KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Peggy Nkonyeni – the pothole repair programme forms part of an ongoing response to reconstructing and rehabilitating road infrastructure following the recent floods.

The programme was announced by Nkonyeni during the tabling of the department’s R12 billion budget vote on Thursday, May 5.

“The initiative, which will be rolled out throughout the province, is targeted at eradicating potholes, rehabilitating and maintaining road infrastructure across the province. This is particularly crucial as the department has over R5.6 billion worth of infrastructure that needs to be reconstructed or repaired following the April floods,” said Nkonyeni.

The pothole patching teams are going to focus on pothole repair, crack sealing, and rut repair.

“The long-term goal of this programme is to ensure that potholes were fixed within 24 hours and to have emergency team in all local municipalities to speedily attend to potholes,” she said.