AfriForum Youth demands answers regarding R146 million roadworks on Lynnwood Road that are still dragging on

AfriForum Youth demands answers from the Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality regarding the construction project on Lynnwood Road, which began in 2023 and now appears to have no end in sight.

In a letter to the Tshwane Metro, the youth organisation demands, among other things, answers regarding why the project is dragging on for so long, how much longer it will take, what measures the metro is taking in the interim to ensure the safety of students and other road users, and what the project will ultimately cost. The organisation also wants to know whether the contractor has been held responsible for any part of the delay and whether penalties, compensation, or other contractual remedies have been enforced.

This project began in May 2023 and was expected to be completed by 26 November 2024. The project was extended on 22 September 2025 – when completion stood at only 69% – and subsequently extended again to 2 March 2026. Meanwhile, a lack of safety measures at the site led to the death of a rugby supporter earlier this year; he fell into one of the excavations after a rugby match. However, there is still no clarity regarding when the project will be completed.

Thousands of students and other road users travel through this area daily on foot and by vehicle, causing long traffic queues but also posing a significant risk to these students and users.

The project spans the section between University Road and Atterbury Road—already a busy stretch of road—and construction is causing further delays there. The project was initially estimated to cost approximately R145,980,925.70, but it appears that it has since exceeded its original budget.

“Every day, thousands of students need to get to their classes via Lynnwood Road, and the project, which is dragging on, poses immense risks to them. We cannot allow students’ safety to be jeopardized due to poor execution and management of the project,” says Hanno Koster, spokesperson for AfriForum Youth.

“Students, residents, and all road users are fed up with the delays surrounding this project. We will now, together with the community, put pressure on the Tshwane Metro to complete this construction so that safe road use can resume,” says Maree van den Berg, AfriForum’s district coordinator for Pretoria.

“Pretoria’s student precinct should ideally be a place where young people can move safely between their university, residences, sports grounds, and other facilities. When a major road project drags on for years, the metro cannot simply assume that students must adapt to the problems; their safety must be a priority,” Koster concludes.

AfriForum Youth has given the metro ten working days to provide a written response to the questions addressed to them. Residents and road users are encouraged to sign AfriForum’s petition to place further pressure on the Tshwane Metro to complete the construction project.