Highways, freeways, motorways and byways

Sunday afternoon, not much to do except sit and chatter about all and everything in our world, and as the conversation ebbed and flowed we began to discuss the state of the highways, motorway, freeways and roads in general in Gauteng.
It seems no matter which highway one drives on these day there are road works going full swing somewhere along the way. The most obvious of these being the Danie Joubert Freeway in the Centurion area and the Western Bypass in Johannesburg.
No matter what time of the day or night it is there are always lanes closed along these routes and so as traffic builds up and then spreads out there is no way of knowing what time one will reach ones destination.
I am so happy that I do not have to do the morning and evening road rumba any more, living in a small village does, for me at least, have many advantages. How does one calculate at what time they should leave for work these days, how does one arrange to fetch children at a certain time, and how does one plan for anything when there is always the worry at the back of the mind as to whether the final destination will be reached in time?
How is it that our illustrious forefathers, who built these roads in the first place, had so little planning and forecasting abilities? Did they not envisage even the minutest growth in the motor vehicle population of the Gauteng area? Even back in those good old days surely figures should have been checked and plans made for expansions should, in the far distant future of probably about five years, things begin to change and traffic get heavier? Obviously, what is obvious to us was not so obvious to the minds that were, even when these motorways were built ordinary folk like you and I were wondering how long they would cope. Now suddenly South Africa springs into action as the Football World Cup will be held here in 2010, so we rush around like made things trying to expand where there is not much space for expansion.
The public being their usual placid selves accept that perhaps they should leave an hour earlier for work and as the stagnant and stationary traffic bellows out exhaust fumes we all sit gaily in our vehicles chatting on cell phones, listening to the radio, counting the porta loos along the roadworks and swearing blindly at any other road user who happens to annoy us.
We all know that what they are inconveniencing us with at present will not be enough by the end of 2010 and so I have to ask my fellow road users, "After 2010 then what?"
If you know the answer please let me know.
One final question, in the end who do we blame, the apartheid era, the post apartheid era, both the above or just the idiots who in the first place did not have the insight to start the job properly so that as and when the need arose things could have been done without so much fuss.

A world washed clean the Johannesburg/Mpumalanga road

Last week Friday I set out with a friend to travel to Nelspruit (a city that I thought was a small town). It is about a four hour drive from Johannesburg on a long and meandering road where the scenery changes from the flatish lands of Gauteng to the rather mountainous hills and dales of Mpumalanga.
As we drove along I could not help thinking that I had never before seen the vegetation that lush and green anywhere, or at any time, in Southern Africa. There were waterfalls glistening in the sunshine as they made their precarious way down steep hillsides and into the rivers below. A lot of the roadside trees were in full bloom and their colours stood out for miles as if they were bright beacons of hope casting out joy to all and sundry passing by. The air was fresh and clean with not a sign of city smog to keep it hanging heavily from the skies.


We saw birds floating on sunbeams and heard their happy cries as they celebrated the richness of the gifts of nature. This world had really been washed clean and one could almost feel the negativity in ones own being dissipate into nothingness as we wound our way past pine forests and fruit farms, gently grazing cattle and sheep and countryside alive with insects all singing as they warmed themselves up in the mid-morning sun. As the day heated up it became more humid yet the air remained light and so we continued our journey in comfort.
Nelspruit came into view, long straight streets criss-crossing each other in an attempt to bring all into the hub of the city centre. The flamboyant trees with their majestic bright orangey/red flowers reminded me of childhood days when I had scrambled up the enormous specimen that stood guard over the driveway at my parents home, happy days and happy memories.
We had a wonderful weekend and met delightful folk, yet come Monday morning were both glad to know that we were returning to our own homes. We left Nelspruit at about eight-thirty and decided we would amble our way back to the fast moving world of Gauteng. The drive was cool and as we gazed out at the passing countryside I was glad to notice that the Gods had placed a protective and gentle mantle over the hills and valleys, a soft promise that wherever we are there is always a sign that so to are They.