Potholes continue to plague the Sandton area especially the residents of Gallo Manor and Marlboro.
According to councillor Liaquad Ebrahim potholes are no stranger to Ward 109. “Potholes are a countrywide problem and it is no different in my area. Gallo Manor, Marlboro, Kevin? it is like graveyard sizes,” said the councillor.
Gallo Manor resident Adri Powell said the community was desperate for the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) to repair the potholes in their area. “In some cases, we cannot drive in our lanes and have to drive into the oncoming traffic which will result in serious accidents as motorists do not know about the potholes and do not give way for the vehicles in the oncoming lane,” Powell said.
Ebrahim added that many of the residents have even gone as far as to fill the potholes themselves with sand and concrete mix, even if it was only a short-term solution. “As a councillor, I don’t know what to say, all I can tell the residents is that we log the calls, we post the messages in the regional groups and that is all that we can do.”
At the beginning of the national lockdown, JRA posted a notice informing residents that it would only be able to carry out a shortlist of tasks, and repairing potholes was not included. Ebrahim said JRA only became fully operational once the country moved into alert Level 3 of the lockdown but even then the utility was forced to reduce its number of operational staff due to Covid-19 infections.
Head of infrastructure at JRA, Siya Genu said the utility was only operating with one-third of its workforce and as such, had to work through a ‘backlog of road-related queries’. Genu added that JRA was also experiencing a shortage of asphalt aggregate.
“As of 2 July, the asphalt plant has not been able to produce any asphalt,” he said. Ebrahim added that he hoped the backlog with be resolved soon as the potholes were a road safety hazard. “We as residents know where the potholes are but when visitors come, people who are not as familiar with the area, it is a danger to them, this is the scary part of it.”
Related articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/278568/help-city-power-alleviate-pressure-on-the-grid/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/278150/coj-avails-email-addresses-for-customer-service-during-covid-19/
