TCLM's new Jet Patcher brings hope to Lydenburg drivers

By: De-Shark

For years, Buhrmann Street in Lydenburg has been a daily obstacle course. Parents swerving to avoid craters on the school run. Taxi drivers losing tyres. Pedestrians stepping into traffic to get around broken tar.

That changed in the morning of Thursday 30 July 2026 when the Executive Mayor of TCLM (Thaba Chweu Local Municipality), Mogotle Friddah Nkadimeng, alongside other senior municipality officials presented the newly-acquired Jet Patcher machine reportedly built to fill potholes faster and make internal roads safer. 

The Executive Mayor, together with MMC (Member of the Mayoral Committee) for Technical and Engineering Services, Meisie Chiloane, joined the Roads Division Team for hands-on capacitation before the machine rolled out. 

Instead of letting it sit in a yard, the team put it to work immediately. Within hours, the Jet Patcher was patching its first pothole right there on Buhrmann Street.

The message to the Roads Division team, by the Executive Mayor, was simple: protect the tool and it will protect the roads.

“Potholes should become a thing of the past now that we have the Jet Patcher. Let us take good care of this equipment so that we can continue maintaining our roads and providing quality services to our communities,” said Nkadimeng.

For Thaba Chweu residents, smoother roads mean safer trips to work, school and home.

TCLM said the investment is about more than asphalt. “This investment forms part of the Municipality’s ongoing commitment to improving road infrastructure, enhancing road safety and delivering reliable services to all residents of Thaba Chweu,” said TCLM.

For many in Lydenburg, it’s the first time in a long while that road repairs felt immediate. No long tenders. No waiting months. Just a machine, a trained team and a street getting fixed before lunchtime.

It was a small patch on one street for the day, but for TCLM, it’s a start toward roads that work for the people who use them every day.