Ward 92 councillor plans to report Dale Road trench in Glen Austin to transport MEC
Ward 92 councillor Charmaine Ngoepe will have no choice but to take the issue to the MMC of Transport's office for a solution.
The Dale Road trench in Glen Austin is not going to be backfilled soon it seems as the City of Ekurhuleni allegedly does not want to take responsibility.
According to Ward 92 councillor Charmaine Ngoepe, there is unending back-and-forth communication between the city and the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA).
In Thanks for Nothing Ekurhuleni [week ending September 22, 2023], a burst pipe which had caused the trench was believed to be the jurisdiction of the city therefore it was responsible for backfilling the trench.
Ngoepe said she reported the matter again to JRA on December 28 after seeing the trench was not cordoned off.
“It seems like someone removed the previous safety tape that was used to cordon off the trench. JRA went and barricaded the place and that was it. As far as things stand, no one wants to take responsibility for it. My last resort is to speak to the MEC of Roads and Transport Kenny Kunene and take it from there.”
The trench is causing major traffic disruptions and had been there for almost six months when Sandton Chronicle became aware of it towards the end of June last year. Dale Road carries a huge traffic volume with motorists travelling from Kaalfontein, Ebony Park, Glen Austin and Allandale to Midrand and Pretoria.
The Sandton Chronicle sent a query to the city and JRA on January 10 asking them why it had taken so long for the trench to be backfilled and if the city did not do the work, would it remain unattended.
The city spokesperson Zweli Dlamini responded, “Kindly note your enquiry has been forwarded to the relevant department for comment.”
In the JRA’s response, spokesperson Lucia Mhlanga said, “Thank you for reaching out to JRA. We hereby acknowledge the inquiry. We are working on sourcing responses to the raised questions.”
The publication had not received definitive responses from the two entities at the time of going to print.
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City of Ekurhuleni’s empty promise to fix the Dale Road trench not fulfilled
