The dilapidated road infrastructure in Glen Austin has triggered the community to come together and fix potholes themselves.
Residents mix cement with concrete, load it in wheelbarrows and drive around in a van to various roads where they repair the potholes. To date, the community initiative has seen potholes repaired on Allan, George, Pitzer and Olifantsfontein roads.
The Midrand Reporter met with four residents who were fixing potholes on Belvedere and Olifantsfontein roads on June 20.
Jamie de Jong, Willem Cloete, Liberty Kuuyangepi and Alex Mahlakoane were hard at work.
Cloete said following March and April’s heavy rains, the community came together to see what they could do and have been planning this for the past two months.
“As the community and residents of Glen Austin, we are working together to make our area a better place, and fixing potholes is part of the hard work we put in. I think just sitting back and complaining is not helping – it’s about time to take the bull by its horns as the community and practise active citizenship by doing it ourselves.”
They first clean out the pothole, then fill it up with concrete and stamp it down so it is firm. When the residents went to the local hardware store, RMM Building Supplies to buy the materials, the store opted to sponsor them. Store manager Ronel Vermaak said as they were part of the community, they felt they could not sell the cement to the residents.
Ward 92 councillor Charmaine Ngoepe said the City’s A Re Sebetseng initiative which includes the repairing of potholes would soon be activated in the area. “Residents need to report any issues including pothole issues to me, so that I can also report to the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and the A Re Sebetseng drive which is currently ongoing in some parts of Region A.”
Transport MMC Funzela Ngobeni, who launched the A Re Sebetseng blitz in May, said residents or community members are not permitted to carry out repairs on the City’s road infrastructure.
“Road repairs are part of the JRA’s mandate along with other maintenance work. The JRA’s regional teams are trained and have the technical expertise to undertake road repairs, they do so with the correct materials and tools and do so within the required guidelines of the CSIR which ordinary citizens are not equipped with. Most importantly, the JRA regional teams, aside from contractors appointed by the entity and contractors appointed via the city’s Public Private Partnerships, are the only ones authorised to carry out road maintenance,” said Ngobeni.
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