​Qaqambile Mdledle
Gauteng Transport and Road Infrastructure MEC, Jacob Mamabolo has assured motorists that they will be driving on smooth roads within six months, as departments embarks on road network improvement drive.
Mamabolo was speaking at the launch of department road network improvement drive, the Smart Mobility Weekends Campaign on Saturday. 
The aim of the campaign is to ensure that all public roads in Gauteng are kept to acceptable standards, safe and allow for smart, easy movement of people and goods as part of the department's strategy of Growing Gauteng Together Through Smart Mobility.
Mamabolo said the department was going to work on weekends to repair and maintain roads and that there will be a heavy focus to ensure the project was completed.  
"One of the things we are changing with the smart mobility weekends is a sustained, uninterrupted, continuous programme of road maintenance so that we can show results," he said. 
Mamabolo said it was important to acknowledge transport as a driving force in growing the economy, especially as it accounts for 7.4% of the country's entire road network, 60% of national freight traffic. 
MEC Jacob Mamabolo said the drive was mainly to save lives. 
"This is a very important breakthrough for us. The reason we have decided to launch this programme is because we have come to appreciate the impact of the lockdown,"Mamabolo said.
He further noted that the backlogs that were there even before lockdown, have all contributed to even greater massive backlogs in potholes, bad conditions on the road, hazardous conditions on the road that pose a threat to the lives of people. 
"So, we must do this programme to save lives, to play our part in road safety and making sure that our roads must not deteriorate to a point where we will not have any roads to carry economic movement of people," he said.