Upper Highway residents demand urgent safety measures on Inanda Road

RESIDENTS and motorists are waiting with bated breath for interventions the Department of Transport (DoT) will take to repair Crinkley Bottom along Inanda Road in Durban.

- ZAINUL DAWOOD

Julie Cox, a spokesperson for the Upper Highway Ratepayers Association (UHRPA), said their concern was the stretch of Inanda Road between Molweni and the Waterfall area. She described the road surface as a patchwork quilt where they have filled potholes, but they keep reappearing.

“It is a busy route. We do not have another road to use. We have a list of 14 collisions that took place in the vicinity. For motorists who brave the winding descent of Inanda Road after the Crinkly Bottom dip, the question is no longer if they will see a crash — but when. Over the past five years, the 3km section between Watercrest Mall and Molweni has racked up a grim roll call of fatalities and mass casualty collisions, earning locals the chilling nickname ‘the death trap?’ she said.

According to Cox, emergency service logs and media reports show at least five major crashes — four of them fatal — since 2021 alone, with residents insisting the true toll is far higher.

The UHRPA blames a lethal mix of collapsed pavements, chronic potholes, blind bends, and unchecked speeding.