Residents fuming about Debonair Avenue potholes
'For some reason the upper part of the road is maintained and this part is neglected,'
When turning into Debonair Avenue from Graphite Road, motorists can expect to find resurfaced sections of road, previously littered with potholes.
That is up until half a kilometre down the road where motorists are met with one pothole after another. According to Pikkieland Playgroup owner, Linda Rademeyer whose crèche is located along that stretch of road, it has never been this bad.
“For some reason the upper part of the road is maintained and this part is neglected. Every once in a while the holes would only be filled up, rather than tarred over. It would only last a couple of weeks before they’re open again, especially during the rainy season,” she said.
Her crèche has been operating from this location for 15 years so traffic volumes on that section of the road are high every day.
“We pay our rates and taxes so why aren’t the funds being used accordingly? We are an operating crèche which means we actually do something for the community. The potholes are a huge discomfort to the parents who have expressed their concerns around the matter towards me,” she said.
Linda and her son Neil have reported the issue to Ward 83 councillor Florence Roberts on several occasions.
“The residents questioning that only a part of the road had been resurfaced is valid and it’s the same question I directed to JRA and the MMC for Transport, Funzi Ngobeni. Debonair Avenue has been on my Top 5 priority list for various reasons – mainly the potholes – from the day I stepped in as ward councillor,” Roberts said.
“JRA continues to do surface pothole resolving and the potholes open up again after about three weeks; however, this road has so many patches it’s become a gravel road at best. For the past three years as councillor I have submitted the list of roads in need of resurfacing to JRA and I’ve been including it in the IDP (Integrated Development Plan), but it seems they are not recognising the community’s plea.”
JRA has been approached for comment on the matter; however, at the time the article was published online the entity had not responded yet.
