The city of Johannesburg said on Wednesday that it had repaired 117,483 potholes over the past year.
In a statement, the City said repairs were prioritised after torrential downpours between November 2016 and January 2017 damaged roads across the metro and caused a proliferation of potholes.
Mayor Herman Mashaba had declared a “War on Potholes” and committed an additional R88 million to fast-track the repair of failing road surfaces. The City said the repairing of the 117,483 potholes represented a significant increase of 26,945, or 22%, more pothole repairs compared to the previous period (2015/2016).
Nonhlanhla Makhuba, MMC of Transport, said while the interventions had made a progressive impact on the quality of roads and public safety, pothole repairs were a short-term fix to ensure the safety of all road users.
“The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), has resolved the crisis by working overtime on evenings and weekends, utilising R60 million for much needed pothole repair material and equipment,” Makhuba said. “The funds were also utilised in appointing contractors to supplement internal capacity to assist with the backlog. Added to this, R28 million has been provided to recruit the 40% JRA road maintenance staff capacity shortages.”
According to a statement from the City of Johannesburg, “resurfacing and/or reconstruction of roads remain the long term solutions to improving the overall condition of the road network”.
Johanesburg’s road infrastructure of 13,428 kilometres had aged and had not been sufficiently maintained over many years, resulting in potholes, the statement added.
As a result of the failing road surface and structural layers formed during rainy seasons, Makuba said it was the intention of the City to gradually increase the budgets for these activities over time.
Makhuba said that in the coming weeks the JRA would be releasing its latest study – a visual condition index of the state of the City’s roads.
“The study will explain whether the condition of Joburg roads is improving or deteriorating, project future road condition trends, determine maintenance and budgetary requirements, as well as inform prioritisation of maintenance projects such as resurfacing and rehabilitation.”
Makuba thanked residents for their patience while improvements to the infrastructure in Johannesburg had been implemented.
– African News Agency (ANA)
