Pothole-riddled roads expose ‘gaping holes’ in the metro’s roads department

A local businessman and his customers have reached the end of their tether, waiting for the Ekurhuleni Roads and Storm Water Department to fix the dangerous potholes on Foxtrot Street, near North Rand Road.

Michael Goodhead expressed his frustrations and anger about the potholes that are not being fixed. He reported them to the metro early in January. He described the situation as shocking and disgusting, adding that he doesn't know why residents are forced to pay rates and taxes when this is what they have to put up with.

They have even used their own money to temporarily fill the potholes.

The almost kilometre-long street, leading to a number of businesses in the area, is full of more than 30 gaping holes.

When the Advertiser visited the affected area, next to Trade Centre, on Tuesday morning (February 21), we noticed that the holes were so large that cars were swerving across lanes to avoid the water-filled potholes.

Trade Centre Boksburg’s Michael Goodhead described the potholes as being lethal to motorists.

He first reported the problem to the metro on January 11, and was issued with a reference number (231 6904).

Shortly thereafter, he repeatedly made follow-up calls requesting officials to send out workers to fix the road.

Despite being alerted to the potholes, municipal officials seemingly failed to act.

According to Goodhead, since then, the potholes have deteriorated.

“They are so deep and have gradually been getting worse over the past six weeks,” said Goodhead.

Beware of these puddles – they are hiding deep potholes. Residents have aired their concerns about the infrastructure, which is gradually falling apart, even with taxation at an all-time high.

Goodhead claimed that he was at one point told that the municipality was still in the process of appointing a contractor, because the previous agency appointed to repair the roads was fired.

“I phoned again to complain about the delays, and an official (his name withheld) just laughed at me when I told him that I was considering approaching the media, as they have failed to assist us within a reasonable time,” said Goodhead.

The management at Trade Centre discovered that they were losing a substantial number of customers due to the damaged road leading to their business.

Michael Goodhead lashed out at some local authorities for failing to fix these potholes despite being alerted to the problem. Ward 22 councillor, Ruhan Robinson, says the increasing pothole problem in Boksburg is due to the metro’s failure to keep pace with patching up our local roads.

Instead of sitting around waiting for the government to fix the road, Goodhead said they decided to fork out about R2 000 on grit sand to fill the holes in order to keep their clients from damaging their nice cars.

“It is not our responsibility to fix roads, but due to the Roads and Storm Water Department’s poor service, as well as the complaints we received from our valuable customers, we decided to take matters into our own hands.”

Potholes are putting motor vehicles and motorists in danger.

Another resident, Jameel Sirkhote, wanted to know when exactly the potholes in several roads in Bartlett be fixed.

Many other residents have also lashed out at Ekurhuleni’s Roads and Storm Water Department’s failure to ensure that the hazards in their roads are fixed within a reasonable time.

Potholes are an increasing, major problem on Ekurhuleni’s roads, causing damage to vehicles and presenting a potential safety hazard.

Rigg Street, O’Hare Street, Rietfontain Road, corner Trichardts and North Rand roads, and Madeley Road are named as just some of the roads that have dreadful potholes that haven’t been fixed, despite being reported to authorities.

Foxtrot Street has become a minefield of potholes, and dodging and weaving has become a daily ritual when driving along this area. These lethal holes are commonplace throughout the city and are often the cause of hefty repair bills on the part of motorists, but the metro is slow to repair the holes.

On the corner of Rietfontein and Madeley roads, for instance, drivers are forced to drive over the dozens of dangerous potholes, and there are no signs of repair.

After receiving complaints from constituents, Ward 22 councillor, Ruhan Robinson, said he has also reported a series of road faults to the Roads and Storm Water Department.

What Robinson has discovered is that the municipality is struggling to catch up with the current backlog of work to counter the thousands of potholes plaguing the city.

“I will be pushing to get these issues sorted, because some of those potholes have been there for a long time,” he said. “The contractor appointed to undertake the works contacted me and said they will be fixing potholes in Boksburg, but they didn’t specify exactly which potholes will be attended to and when.”

Heavy rains in the past few days have worsened potholes in some parts of the city.

The metro regularly encourages drivers, cyclists and other road users to report potholes and other service-related issues to the municipality via their call centre (0860 543 000).

The idea behind reporting potholes is to make officials aware of them instantly, and encourages the relevant department to fix them.

Have you spotted any pothole in your area? If yes, please send us pictures of potholes via email or get in touch via our Facebook page and Twitter.

No comment was received from the metro at the time of going to press. -@Fanie FLK

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