Following the heavy downpours that hit the city earlier this year, the Johannesburg Roads Agency had committed itself to repairing all damaged roads and infrastructure by the end of April.
Weeks after the deadline passed, the roads agency claims that 90 percent of repairs, which would bring the city’s roads to the condition they were in prior to the heavy rains, were complete.
However, Joburg residents disagree.
According to Fourways resident Dave Reddy, the majority of the rain-related damage in his area had not been repaired.
He argued that despite the road agency’s promises, roads infrastructure maintenance was nowhere near adequate.
Craigavon resident, Paula Combrink said the roads agency deadline had passed and repair work in the area had yet to begin.
Combrink had also contacted the roads agency in March, notifying it of several potholes which residents had filled with bricks as a temporary measure.
However, Hendrik van Tonder, head of Regional Operations said that repairs were being undertaken in all areas that the roads agency was aware of.
“I don’t think any area was not prioritised. We have asked our regional operations managers to give us lists of the most affected areas, so our teams are out there doing work on a daily basis,” he said.
However, he added the roads agency depended on the public to bring road issues to its attention but required them to be specific by providing road names or co-ordinates.
Meanwhile, current road conditions revealed that the road agency had missed the mark in some areas where only some potholes had been repaired while others in the immediate vicinity remained untouched.
Van Tonder conceded that although the roads agency aimed to address all potholes, repair teams were dropping the ball.
“That’s an operational issue that needs to be brought to our attention immediately. If we give some of our teams one work order they’ll only go and repair that one pothole,” he said.
“Our teams need to not only focus on the potholes that we actually give them… they need to repair potholes that they find on the way there and on the way back,” he said.
He also clarified that roads with uneven surfaces as a result of pothole repairs would be rectified.
These were temporary repairs as part of the roads agency’s remedial work during the wet weather but repair teams would have to redo those potholes with permanent repairs according to the roads agency’s standards, he said.
However, these should not remain unattended for longer than a month.
Do you think that the pothole problem in Joburg has been fixed?
Tell us by posting on our timeline, Rosebank Killarney Gazette or tweet us @RK_Gazette
Add us on BBM for the latest news in your community. PIN: 29C7976C
