“They Won’t Fix Them”: Tourist Stunned by Massive Potholes on Mzansi Rural Roads in TikTok Video

A foreign tourist’s first trip to rural South Africa turned into a white-knuckle experience, and Mzansi had a lot to say about it. TikToker xoxoreinajo posted a video on 22 May 2026 after visiting a rural area for the first time and getting up close with SA’s infamous pothole problem.

The roads were so bad that her partner was visibly stressed the entire two-hour drive.

A drive that had everyone nervous

She described weaving around craters so deep she joked she would disappear inside one. The couple had to add extra time to the trip just to navigate around the roads. Her partner was on edge for the entire journey, and she had never seen anything like it.

What she experienced is not unusual for South Africa. The Automobile Association estimates there could be more than 25 million potholes on the country’s roads. Nearly 67% of those are believed to have formed in just the past five years. KwaZulu-Natal alone recorded 500,000 potholes in 2023, making it the worst-affected province in the country.

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The financial hit is just as serious. Insurance data from Santam showed that the average pothole-related claim cost was between R20,000 and R25,000 in 2023, and experts say that figure has likely climbed since then.

Despite the rough road, the tourist fell in love with the experience. The food, the atmosphere, and the cows won her over completely. She even helped prepare a traditional meal and was blown away by the chakalaka and dumplings. Mzansi had plenty of feelings about her reaction to both the roads and the food.

Watch the TikTok clip below:

More about potholes

• A man in Botswana recently went viral in a TikTok video after he was seen fishing in a massive pothole.
• After attracting local attention, Helen Zille's snorkelling in a Johannesburg pothole surprisingly garnered international attention.
• The City of Johannesburg reportedly dispatched repair machinery to Balder Road in Douglasdale after a long-standing water leak and pothole caused major community frustration.

Source: Briefly News