Traffic at the intersection of Great North and High roads will once again come to a standstill as schools reopen for term four.

It has been nearly a year since all the traffic lights at the intersection have malfunctioned, mostly due to vandalism, cable theft and damage caused by accidents.

The affected roads, as well as the intersection, fall under the jurisdiction of the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport.

Responding to questions submitted to the provincial legislature by Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (MPL) Michael Waters, MEC for Transport and Logistics Kedibone Diale-Tlabela said the department is in the process of appointing service providers for the maintenance of both traffic lights and roads.

“In instances where the immediate safety of motorists is at risk, the department mobilises its internal staff to attend to emergencies on the roads,” Diale-Tlabela said.

Reportedly, an estimated R18m is required to address the deteriorating road surface of High Road, as well as the replacement of non-functioning traffic lights.

“The province is experiencing a maintenance backlog of R10.6b for 2025, and a further investment of R1.5b is needed from 2026 to 2034. The budget allocation to the Department of Roads and Transport has not been sufficient, and that is why the roads have deteriorated to the current extent,” he said.

“The department is legally obligated to keep the roads in a safe and trafficable condition; however, there is no set minimum standard that the department is legally obligated to adhere to.”

AfriForum takes action
Civil action group AfriForum warns that the delay in repairing and maintaining the intersection is a disaster waiting to happen.

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“Congestion and frequent accidents are a safety risk for motorists and pedestrians, while road users have to add 50 minutes travel time daily due to the lack of EMPD and Gauteng Traffic Police officials being deployed to ease congestion.”

On September 30, AfriForum submitted a request to the City of Ekurhuleni (CoE) as well as the provincial government for immediate action.

“The ongoing situation has been reported to the relevant authorities on several occasions, yet no action has been taken,” said Nadia Olckers, AfriForum district coordinator: East Rand.

“This intersection forms part of the city’s main arterial routes connecting residents with the R21 to Pretoria as well as the O R Tambo International Airport, yet the impact of dysfunctional traffic lights is being wholly ignored. The Brentwood Park community has been pleading for intervention for long enough, and we therefore demand that the municipality and the Gauteng government take immediate action.”

What City of Ekurhuleni says

Responding to questions from the Benoni City Times, CoE spokesperson Zweli Dlamini said the relevant municipal departments are corresponding with the provincial government through weekly meetings.

“The province has indicated that it has secured funding to repair some of its 188 signalised intersections metro-wide; however, repairs are subject to the availability of funds,” he said.

“At this time, no repair timeline has been made available, but we will continue to encourage the provincial government to move with speed.”

He further stated that pointsmen are deployed to assist motorists to safely navigate affected intersections and to ease congestion; however, due to the volume of traffic light outages, duties cannot be fulfilled at every intersection.

“The EMPD have been engaged in this matter,” he said.

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