Johannesburg Mayor Herman Mashaba launched the city’s much-needed manhole cover replacement project on 10 August.
Missing and metal manhole covers will be replaced by plastic manhole covers. This project forms part of the City’s future network upgrades plan which aims to improve the city’s road infrastructure.
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According to Mashaba, decades long neglect of infrastructure maintenance has resulted in 99 deaths in 2014/15 and 104 deaths in 2016/17 due to manholes left uncovered throughout the city.
Mashaba claimed that under the previous administration there was a substantial amount of money kept aside to fund international travel, instead of being channelled towards service delivery projects. He added that R1 million had been re-prioritised from this money to make the project possible and in the process prevent the unnecessary loss of life.
“Our administration has developed a comprehensive approach to the maintenance, development and expansion of the city’s road network,” he added. “The Johannesburg Roads Agency has been allocated an operating budget of R1.1 billion in the 2017/18 financial year and a three-year capital budget of R4 billion.”
Mashaba said this was an example of how the City’s limited resources could be used to effectively drive service delivery, which has positive and tangible results for residents.
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“In prioritising commuter safety, construction work will be carried out during off-peak times during the day to fast-track planned upgrades with minimal impact on road users and pedestrians.”
Mashaba added that by ensuring businesses could transport their goods and reach consumers and that residents were able to safely move across the city, the administration would be a step closer to reaching their goal of achieving 5 per cent economic growth within the city by 2021.
The project is expected to be completed by 15 December for all 4 000 of the city’s uncovered manholes.
