Pothole project employs residents in Ward 92

As part of the City of Johannesburg’s plans to combat the huge backlog in repairing potholes, the City commenced its Accelerated Service Delivery Plan which works with local companies in wards to bring service delivery.

The Midrand Reporter met with a local company appointed to work on potholes in Ward 92 on 2 June in Glen Austin.

Thandeka Dalasile, founder of Guanxi Combina Civil and Building, expressed excitement about working for her ward.

She said that everyone who is taking part in the project is from her ward which means local people are employed. “This is helping in a great way because I could easily identify most of these potholes, as I live in Glen Austin. There was one particular pothole that had been there for months on end,” said Dalasile.

“The appointment of SMMEs that are familiar with the area was actually the best thing that JRA [Johannesburg Roads Agency] and the main contractor could do. If you appoint an SMME from Pretoria for example, they would not even know where George Road is or where the biggest potholes in the area were.

“As a local company from this area we are able to prioritise, and look at roads which are used frequently as well.”

Media officer at the Johannesburg Roads Agency, Kelebogile Mafa explained that the programme, which was currently in its second phase, was devised to speedily address the backlog of outstanding potholes accumulated over the lockdown period.

Mafa added that under Level 5 lockdown, JRA was not categorised as essential services and could only assign their standby teams for emergencies. “This affected normal maintenance work. In this phase, all seven regions are addressed at the same time.

“The scope isn’t limited to potholes, it also includes road reinstatements, curb cleaning and ‘skoffelling’ of weeds/grass on road verges and islands. This programme has made headway in addressing a bulk of outstanding road defects and in ensuring that the City’s roads are safe and accessible.”

John Mphatsoe, chairperson for the Glen Austin Residents Association, welcomed the project after many complaints by residents. “We feel happy that SMMEs are given opportunities to participate in the economy and by empowering them too.

“This will also ensure that the SMMEs deliver quality work as they stay in the area and that will make it easy for the community to hold them to account when they don’t deliver.”