439 roads damaged, R151 ‘riddled with potholes’: Limpopo’s flood repair bill keeps rising

Limpopo Premier Dr Phophi Ramathuba has revealed that the province may require close to R10 billion for comprehensive recovery following devastating floods that have left 439 roads unusable and claimed 27 lives since December 2025. The floods in the province rendered approximately 600 kilometres of roads unusable and affected around 3 194 houses. Providing an update on Thursday, Ramathuba detailed the extensive damage caused by recent adverse weather.

“Our preliminary assessment indicated that we may require close to R10 billion for comprehensive recovery initiatives,” Ramathuba said. “We remain hopeful that we will successfully rebuild Limpopo from this disaster with the resources we are beginning to mobilise while we await further intervention from the National Disaster Management Centre.” The figure represents a significant increase from earlier estimates. In late January, the Limpopo department of public works, roads and infrastructure said it needed R1.7 billion to address the aftermath of the floods.

Public works, roads and infrastructure, MEC Ernest Rachoene said at the time, that the department does not have enough money to rebuild the infrastructure after the floods. That figure, he said, remained an estimate as comprehensive assessments could not be completed due to continued heavy rainfall across the province. The figure rose again when the Limpopo provincial government said it would need R4 billion to restore communities ravaged by the violent storms.

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The premier highlighted the R151 highway from Polokwane to Dendron as one of the most severely affected routes. She added that the provincial government is actively engaging with the South African National Road Agency Limited (Sanral) to expedite repairs. Key transport routes in the Palabora region have been particularly hard hit. These include the:

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