Sharonlea Primary School at its wits end with road problems
The school's governing body believes Sharonlea Primary should be prioritised as over 1 000 learners commute to the school each day.
Drivers being forced to evade potholes around Sharonlea Primary School are endangering the lives of learners.
School governing body chairperson Lindsay Engelbrecht said they were frustrated that the roads have not been given priority by the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), despite the matter being raised with JRA on several occasions.
Shoddy workmanship has been blamed for the state of Camphers Street in particular, with Ward 101 councillor Ralf Bittkau saying he has reported it for months.
He met Randburg Sun [CG1] on the road outside the school with a measuring tape in hand.
“The tarmac should be 40mm deep, while you can clearly see it is only 20mm – half of what it needs to be,” he said, adding the stones used in the mix were much larger than they should be, also causing the road to deteriorate easily.
“I first reported this in January and have done so a few times since. But I am still to hear of any action to be taken.”
The school has placed cones near the worst potholes.
Engelbrecht called the roads around the school a safety hazard to learners.
“The surface of the roads has become so bad that JRA was unable to paint any road markings or create parking bays,” he said.
“JRA has been contacted many times to sort the issue. They did attend a safety meeting at one point and cited financial constraints as a reason for the delay.”
Engelbrecht said as a school and body of parents, they understood these financial constraints, but they did think that schools should be prioritised.
“We have over 1 000 learners who need to be commuted in and around the school every single day.”
Greater Sharonlea Residents Forum chairperson JC Wouters said the forum had also reported the condition of Camphers Street to JRA and had met one of the agency’s inspectors on the road at one point.
“But they do not seem to want to help. They just want to wait and do nothing about it,” he claimed.
JRA spokesperson Lucia Mahlanga was sent questions about the matter on March 8.
Mahlanga was asked about the depth and size of stones used in the tarmac mix, why the agency had not responded to the ward councillor’s complaints, whether anyone from the agency had attended to the scene since January, and if not, why not.
A comment was not received by the time of going to print.
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