Residents must hold JRA to account

Where are the 100 000 potholes that the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) repaired during its accelerated service delivery plan?

These were among the questions posed after Sandton Chronicle spoke to the communitys’ councillors for an update on the state of the roads in their respective wards.

In an update on August 14 by JRA about its asphalt plant, the agency noted that not only was the plant producing asphalt to its ‘optimal capacity’.

“To date the plant has produced a total of 3 947.55 tons for all the JRA depots across the seven regions. This has resulted in over 100 000 potholes repaired city-wide through the accelerated service delivery plan which ended on June 30,” said the agency.

While this was a city-wide operation, ward councillors in parts of regions E and B have noted that month-old potholes remained untouched in their wards.

Ward 90 councillor Martin Williams described the City’s pothole operation as ‘patchy, at best’ despite the optimistic message about the asphalt plant.

“Residents are grateful for every pothole that is repaired but there are still backlogs in every Ward 90 suburb, from Craighall Park and Dunkeld, through to Hyde Park and Parkmore,” said Williams.

He added that residents in Parkmore even went as far as to re-submit a long list of potholes that still required JRA’s attention.

The backlog continues throughout the area, stretching across wards 102, 103, 104 and 109.

“JRA has not made up the backlog and definitely not in many wards in the northern suburbs including Ward 103. There are still numerous potholes that have been reported months ago and are still not repaired,” said Ward 103 councillor Vincent Earp.

Ward councillors covering the Bryanston area have also noted the increasing backlog of reinstatements.

“The issue of reinstatements remain a problem. Reinstatements are repairs to the road surface after work is done by Johannesburg Water and City Power,” said Ward 104 councillor Mike Wood.

Many of these pending reinstatements were both dangerous and difficult for motorists and pedestrians to see, he added.

JRA had, however, said it remained committed to providing quality roads that were accessible and safe for communities, despite the Covid-19 challenges.

The councillors remained hopeful that JRA would ensure that every outstanding reinstatement would be completed.

Ward 102 councillor David Potter encouraged residents to continue to hold the City to account.

“The new executive mayor of the City [Jolidee Matongo] has promised a lot and the JRA must now deliver. I encourage residents to look and log every single pothole, damaged or missing sign, damaged armco barriers, faded road markings, etc. to the JRA,” said Potter.

Residents can report issues to JRA at hotline@JRA.org.za or @myJRA on Twitter.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/291085/residents-urged-to-hold-jra-to-account/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/245558/jra-warns-false-job-vacancy-scam/