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Top 5 worst towns and roads in South Africa

5/12/2011

17 Comments

 
Potholed road
Travel magazines are fond of producing Top 10 or Top 5 lists of this or that. Following a journey from Middelburg in Mpumalanga to Pongola in KwaZulu-Natal along the N2, here’s my list of the top 5 worst towns and roads in South Africa. It wasn’t even a challenge.

1.    Hendrina – the ugliest town in the country, surrounded by burnt grass in winter, hideous coal mines that have blackened the trees for miles around, and lots of litter swirling through the town. Despite the ‘no coal dumping’ signs along the N2 outside the town, ugly black patches prove that no one seems to take any notice.

2. Ermelo – second-ugliest town in the country, surrounded by industry, silos and mine slags that turn the air smoggy and unclean, ably assisted by a smoke-belching power station. Although the surrounding environment isn’t as black as around Hendrina, it’s an equally depressing holocaust-style vista.

3.  N2 between Ermelo and Pongola – worst national highway, more pitted and potholed than any other national highway in the country. And that’s saying something. Some people were complaining about delays due to road works and certainly the stops were annoyingly long and haphazardly managed. But for me the parts that were not being worked on were more annoying because they were bad enough to need work, though none seemed to be on the horizon.

4. Taxis on the N2 near Pongola – worst drivers in the country, who don’t understand what one-way traffic means, or don’t care. Yes, stop-go signs due to road works are bothersome, but they’re there for a reason. Yet we saw taxis driving up the wrong side of the road into the oncoming traffic, forcing cars with right of way onto the gravel shoulder, endangering the occupants of both vehicles. Thanks to David-and-Goliath syndrome and a tiny hint of self-preservation, they did appear to give way for large trucks.

5. Piet Retief – worst main road through any town in the country. Coming from plug-ugly Hendrina and Ermelo it was a joy to approach a town that was pretty, even in the dead of winter. No burnt grasslands, no smoke-stacks, no coal, just some well-laid out garden-islands and broad parkland lining the streets. Then we reached the town proper and discovered potholes big enough to lose a hippopotamus in. There were ripped-up sections, large rough patches, buckling tar, and whole swathes where tar had given way entirely to the underlying sand.

If anyone has other suggestions for a South African ‘worst’, let’s hear them!
 

Copyright © Roxanne Reid - No words or photographs on this site may be used without permission from roxannereid.co.za
17 Comments
Highvelder
10/9/2012 02:07:42 pm

I know this response is a tad late, maybe a sign that this site is not all that popular. Nonetheless:

You may just be correct in your statements. I do suggest however (as I have done to many of my better-than-thou capetonian friends) that, rather than throwing a lot of disrespect around, relocate to our neck of the woods (or should I say our patch of burnt veld) and come show us how to do it right. nuff sed.

Keep in mind that the smog we breathe everyday is the result of a power hungry economy, fed by fossil fuel dug out by corrupt politicians (and their friends, family and cadres, wont cannot even spell environment). Everytime you switch on your lights, TV, computer, washing machine, you are endorsing their behaviour. If you want a clean Highveld, stop using electricity. If you dont have the stomach for it, just be grateful that the prevailing winds at Easterly, for if they were Westerly, all the smog created by Matla, Kutula, Arnot, Camden and many others would have been blowing over beautiful Gauteng and trendy Sandton.

Reply
Roxanne
11/9/2012 12:54:21 am

Thanks for your input, Highvelder. The logic in your first sentence is flawed, though; that you're late to the party doesn't mean tens of thousands haven't gone before you.
As for the meat of your criticism, I take your point and I'm sorry I touched a sore spot with you. Whatever the reasons for the ugliness, though,and whoever benefits from it, I stick to my observation that it's ugly. Like you, I'm entitled to my opinion.

Reply
Loukmaan
25/2/2013 11:33:12 am

With regards to Piet retief,it's not only the worst main road.Driving daily on all the roads in this town is a nightmare.It should be voted as the town with the worst streets in the country.

Reply
Johan
29/6/2013 02:00:29 am

I recently drove from the West Coast (Hopefield) to Hoedspruit. A trip of about 1900km. The worst road I have ever encountered is the R36 between Lydenburg and Ohrigstad. I innitially though my GPS gave me the wrong turn of. This road is so bad it would be impossible to travel on it at night. Even massive trucks has to drive next to the road at som places since the potholes are just to big and many. This road will be better if the remove the tar and turn it into a gravel road.
Remember what we had in SA before we had gravel roads? Tarred roads.

Reply
Roxanne link
29/6/2013 12:26:26 pm

Thanks for your vote, Johan, and for the heads up. We used to drive that way to Kruger Park sometimes a few years ago, so it's useful to have a reminder to strike it off our list of options!

Reply
Scott Everson
24/8/2013 04:02:37 pm

Drove that road last Saturday...biggest potholes I've ever seen!

Reply
Jan-Rudolph Buhrmann link
14/8/2013 05:50:46 am

Having been born in Ermelo, I wish everybody can see what you have seen regarding the total destruction the coal mining industy is causing in the triangle between Secunda, Bethal and Ermelo. There are areas that will not look out of place in a collection of pictures from outer space. As such I am all in favour of South Africa diversifying into fraccing as well. We are protecting very marginalised agricultural land while wasting an productive region for agriculture.

Reply
Roxanne link
14/8/2013 06:43:37 am

Thanks for your comments, Jan-Rudolph. I agree that coal mining has a lot to answer for, but I'm not sure that fracking will be any 'healthier' for the environment - the potential damage to water sources may be less visible to the casual observer but just as negative.

Reply
Etienne
17/9/2014 05:07:58 am

Hi Roxanne,

I recently traveled through Ermelo and Piet Retief as well as Pongola on my way to Cape Vidal, Mkhuze and Isimangaliso. Although Ermelo and Hendrina still looked in pretty bad shape the main road towards Pongola have definitely improved a lot. There have been road works between Ermelo and Pongola for a number of years but it is much better now. Ermelo used to be a lovely and well-maintained farming town and community. I am pretty sure that the black coal polluted scars in that part of the world is not an analogy for the hearts of people that live there.

Reply
Roxanne link
18/9/2014 11:05:42 am

Thanks for this update, Etienne. In fact, I travelled the road as far as Piet Retief a fortnight ago and noted the difference. Piet Retief, I'm pleased to say, I since retarred its main road, and the roads at right angles to the main road have had what remained of the tar dug up and replaced with cement bricks. A great improvement there too.

Reply
Mohammed
6/1/2015 11:17:02 am

I agree with Johan. The R36 is quite possibly the worst road in this country. Driving above 60km/h is absolutely impossible. The most ironic part is that the government has put sign boards every few kilometres to warn about the potholes instead of actually fixing it up.

Reply
Ree
13/4/2015 02:46:26 am

The road between Parys and Bothaville OMG it's rotten with potholes, no maintenance whatsoever, it's just shocking. Mr Ace Magashule must intervene, we can't deal with this anymore.

Reply
Roxanne
13/4/2015 08:42:49 am

I feel your pain, Ree.

Reply
Kebuileng
10/7/2017 10:17:15 am

Ree, it actually gets worse from Viljoenskroon to Bothaville, from Parys it's a whole lot better in comparison to the Viljoenskroon-Bothaville

Reply
Roxanne
10/7/2017 11:08:27 am

Thanks for that update, Kebuileng. So many roads falling apart :-(

Reply
Eugene
10/12/2018 08:53:32 am

I feel so sad when I read this, I lived in Piet Retief from 2003 to 2005 and it was such a beautiful little town with an amazing community. Recent pictures I have seen of it though make me very sad, It's beyond belief how fast this town has decayed.

Reply
Roxanne
10/12/2018 10:14:13 am

I understand how you feel, Eugene. Parts of it are still beautiful, but others are certainly a bit sad.

Reply

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    I'm an independent travel writer and book editor with a passion for Africa - anything from African travel, people, safari and wildlife to adventure, heritage, road-tripping and slow travel.
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