For 47-year-old Jonas Molefe Motau, who is blind, getting to work means navigating rocky roads, potholes and a busy road without a pedestrian crossing in Stinkwater, Hammanskraal.

Motau walks more than four kilometres to and from his workplace at the Benjamin Moloise Community Centre, using a white cane to find his way around obstacles.

“The roads are uneven, rocky and full of holes, the only time municipality scrape them is when there is a funeral on that street, other than that, they are not conducive for someone who can’t see like me,” he says.

Motau took Health-e News along his daily route to demonstrate the difficulties he faces.

Crossing a busy road

Motau’s biggest challenge is crossing Molefe Makinta Highway, a main metropolitan road in the City of Tshwane, joining the M21 Highway that connects Ga-Rankuwa with Hammanskraal via Mabopane and Soshanguve.

There is no pedestrian crossing along the busy road near the community centre, making it especially challenging to cross for people with visual impairments and other disabilities.

“My biggest challenge is crossing Molefe Makinta freeway to my workplace”, Motau says.

Motau says he relies on the sound of approaching vehicles when nobody is available to help him cross.

“If there is no one to assist me to cross, I listen to the drones produced by cars. But the latest car models have less sound and at times I would just hear the hooter signaling that I am dicing with death. I am bound to run for my life to heed the call,” he says.

Pedestrian safety concerns previously documented

Concerns about pedestrian safety along Molefe Makinta Highway are not new. In 2024, the Road Ethics Project and Hammanskraal United Commuters Voice conducted pedestrian safety assessments at two intersections in Gauteng, including one along the Molefe Makinta Highway where Motau crosses daily.

According to the Global Alliance of NGOs for Road Safety, approximately 1,200 pedestrians used each intersection during the morning peak hour between 7am and 8am, including a large number of school children.

The assessments found that both intersections lacked adequate pedestrian safety measures, including marked crossings, traffic-calming measures and continuous, unobstructed pavements. 

Using vehicle-speed data from TomTom, the organisations also found that vehicles travelled at or above the posted 60km/h speed limit on average. The organisations called for raised pedestrian crossings to slow traffic and improve pedestrian visibility.

Family worries about safety

Motau lives with his wife, Neo, and their six-year-old twin daughters, Dineo and Refilwe.

Neo Motau says she worries about her husband’s safety, particularly when he returns home after dark. According to Neo many roads around Hammanskraal do not have working streetlights. 

“I become worried when darkness falls and Jonas is not yet back home due to crime that is surging in our area. During the day I know there will be witnesses if he gets mugged,” she says.

Councillor responds

Ward 13 councillor Sonia Mabolawa says she has reported road problems to the relevant municipal departments and that some work has been carried out. 

Mabolawa says the pedestrian crossing near the disability centre remains unresolved.

According to Mabolawa there is often public confusion regarding who maintains the infrastructure on this route. While it heavily impacts City of Tshwane residents, the Molefe Makinta Highway is a provincial road falling under the jurisdiction of the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT).

‘Nothing about us without us’

Tsakane Chauke, 47, founder of the Empowerment Centre for the Blind in Kanana, Hammanskraal, says inaccessible roads and pavements are a widespread problem for the visually impaired and blind community. “There isn’t supposed to be grass, holes and water where we walk but the opposite is the truth,” she says.

Chauke says potholes, sewage spillages and pools of standing water along roads make it difficult for people with visual impairments to move around safely. “The municipality has not done enough in terms of including us, there is no safety for us,” she says.

Chauke wants candidates contesting the 4 November local government elections to involve people with disabilities in decisions affecting their lives.

“Nothing about us without us.”