Ward 90 councillor unimpressed with JRA’s progress reinstatement report
Craighall Residents Association Chairman, Markus Borner says the City of Johannesburg's reinstatements stall before being reinstated.
Ward 90 councillor, Martin Williams, expressed his frustration towards the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s (JRA) progress reinstatement report for Region B.
Region B, which includes Ward 90, has the highest number of reinstatements, but the JRA has only appointed three contractors to do the work. Reinstatements is the process of entities replacing the excavated area to its previous state.
“This is unjust because Region B includes many residents who pay the highest rates. I fully understand the need to service poorer areas, but the imbalance is extreme.”
Williams added that it was one of the reasons Joburg was losing ratepayers. He added that residents left because they were getting negative value for their rates.
This would accelerate the city’s downward spiral.
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The Ward 90 councillor noted that, despite engaging high-level officials, he could not get certain answers when outstanding reinstatements would be complete.
“There seems to be an attitude that because contractors are involved, we should not worry.”
Contractors have started with verifications and implementation in various areas of Region B.
Work done by appointed JRA Inhouse teams in 4 months:
Craighall Residents Association Chairman, Markus Borner noted that the Association saw no proactive repair of reinstatements by either the JRA or Johannesburg Water (JW) in recent years.
“The only repair done by JRA after a protracted and repeated engagement with the city entities was a repair at Clarence Avenue. This was a 9-month process requiring extensive time and effort by Samantha Herman of the CRA and Councillor Martin Williams.”
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Borner added that while the Association welcomed the stated intent of the city, it urged the City of Johannesburg to deliver on their responsibilities to maintain the and hold themselves accountable to ratepayers.
“Ratepayers and residents are subjected to multiple-year annual above-inflation increases, with an ever-decreasing delivery against their obligations. We remain open to debate and look forward to better service delivery, working with the city.”
Work done by appointed Contractors within 2 weeks of appointment:
The publication reached out to the JRA for comment on July 2, but they failed to send a response by July 5, when the paper went to print.
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