Mpumalanga’s Bushbuckridge Local Municipality has finally got rid of a small embarrassment – an Eskom electricity pole constructed smack in the middle of a road.
The municipality announced on social media last week that the pole was removed, adding, “We would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused by this.”
It accompanied the post with before-and-after photos of the mishap.
The pole has now been shifted to the side of the road, which is located in Matsikitsane village outside Acornhoek.
Traditional Councils blamed
An image of the pole went viral on social media in July, prompting the municipality to issue a statement blaming traditional councils.
“The municipality has over the years advocated and pleaded with Traditional Councils and in particular our indunas to follow the correct procedure and town planning regulations when establishing new settlements within the municipality,” it said.
The municipality’s consulting engineer reportedly gave a contractor the green light to pave the street despite the pole being there.
According to the municipality, the engineer did this because the pole was to be removed “in due course.”
It said the Matsikitsane village came into being without “due processes” and “proper town planning” being followed.
Social media users react
Social media reaction to the pole’s removal has been mixed. Some users questioned the logic of paving the road in the first place with the pole in the middle.
Rudi Mitchell wrote, “Nothing to celebrate here. It probably cost R500 000 to remove that pole which wasn’t supposed to be there in the first place.”
“Now that you have removed the pole, you should also fire your civil engineers for approval of that paving and also your electrical engineers for putting the pole in the middle of the road,” commented Cyril Masabana.
Anthony Malapane said it isn’t something to celebrate, “Good, but unfortunately there is nothing to celebrate. Go back to work.”
Perhaps the municipality will be a little more careful next time to avoid having little embarrassments on the way, literally.