Holey hell!

Roads are in a dilapidated condition throughout large parts of our country, but they're not much better at some popular campsites either, says Leon Botha.

- Leon Botha

Wayne Jacobs, a reader from Cape Town, wrote to us about the condition of the roads in the Pilanesberg National Park, and how they've deteriorated. It's been a popular destination for campers for many years, as here you'll see the Big Five nine times out of 10.

We've camped in this lovely reserve no less than four times in the past 16 years, and written about our experience. The first visit was in 2006, and the introduction to the article summed up the situation well: "Pack your things and hitch your off-road trailer. Go and see for yourself why campers are so passionate about the Pilanesberg!"

Back then, Louise Grobler camped there too, and told us it was her sixth visit: "Here you can relax, and the children enjoy it." We spoke to David Hansen, a retired pilot, and his wife, Irene, who said it was one of their favourite places.

Four years later, in 2010, Miems and Morris Fox told us they had camped there 20 years earlier. They'd only wanted to come for the weekend, but after getting to the campsite, they decided to stay longer.

In 2013, we mentioned potholes in the Hippo Loop at the Mankwe Dam: "In contrast to the neat road to get here, this road is littered with potholes; so be careful where you drive!"

In 2018, we paid another visit, and a recent poll shows that the Pilanesberg is the most popular park in the country...

You choose between two camps: Manyane and Bakgatla. Wayne has owned timeshare in Manyane for 20 years. Here are his thoughts:

"I have a saying: maintenance costs money, no maintenance comes with an unknown price. It means that if something is correctly maintained on a regular basis, it does, indeed, cost money. But when no maintenance is done, especially over extended periods of time, it becomes very expensive to fix what hasn't been maintained, and it often becomes too expensive to correct the problem.