A significant increase of 22% was recorded for pothole repairs by the City of Johannesburg for the 2016/17 financial year in comparison to the previous year.
MMC for Transport, councillor Nonhlanhla Makhuba, said that over the past year the city had fixed 117 483 potholes following Johannesburg executive mayor Herman Mashaba’s declaration to initiate a “war on potholes”.
In March, an additional R88 million was added to the Johannesburg Roads Agency’s (JRA) budget in order to fast-track the repair of failing road surfaces further damaged by heavy rains at the beginning of the year. R60 million of the additional funds were used for pothole repair material, equipment, and for appointing contractors to supplement internal capacity to assist with the backlog.
Makhuba added however that pothole repairs were only a short-term fix.
“The city’s 13 428 kilometre of roads infrastructure is ageing and has not been sufficiently maintained over many years. This means that potholes, which are a sign of failing surface and structural layers, will continue forming with each new rainy season,” she said.
This was why the city’s long-term solution remained the resurfacing and reconstruction of roads in order to improve the overall condition of the road network, she added.
