'Poor' Roads Costing SA Drivers Billions

Poor road conditions are reported to cause more than 20 billion Rand worth of damages to South African drivers, with more than half of the nation's 754,600 KM roads in "poor" condition.

The Financial and Fiscal Commission says the state of roads continues to decline, even though spending has increased. While the international benchmark stipulates that a maximum 10 percent of a country's total road network could be allowed to be in "poor" or "very poor" condition, in South Africa the figure is 60 percent.

Crumbling roads are costing us billions
Saturday Star
June 6, 2009