It appears the continuous summer rains over the past couple of days have once again brought with it the problem of potholes on the City of Ekurhuleni’s roads.
Although the metro has not yet responded to our request for comment, the Advertiser understands the City has been battling to keep up with the growing road defects.
Information gathered suggests the roads department is trying to get enough resources to cope with the surge in demand and plans to take up pothole repair work on a priority basis once enough resources have been secured.
Following the spells of heavy rainfall, the Advertiser took a drive around Boksburg and discovered that many roads, including the busiest ones, have become littered with dozens of potholes and water-logging-related issues.
Affected major roads in town include North Rand Road, Pretoria Road, Rietfontein Road, Atlas Road, van Dyk Road, Commissioner Street, Main Reef Road and many others.
This publication also approached local ward councillors for comment on the problem, and they acknowledged that recent rains have created lots of problems.
Councillor for Ward 22 Madelaine Muller said she also reported some potholes to the relevant department, and officials have fixed some of these problems.
“The weather is a factor, and we are aware of the urgent need to ramp up repair works. With the issues that have popped up after the heavy rains, I was informed that the metro is working on getting enough money for roads maintenance. I know the repairs of potholes and street lights are at the top of the list,” explained Muller.
“I’m in self-isolation, but after my isolation period I’m going to meet with the roads department to discuss the situation.”
Ward 32 councillor Marius de Vos said he received a high volume of complaints from residents and has tried to get municipal officials to address the problem but to no avail.
“Many people’s cars have been damaged after hitting potholes.”
Some residents feel the recent rains have exposed the City’s ‘poor’ road resurfacing work undertaken as part of its regular road maintenance.
The situation has prompted some residents of Boksburg to fund or patching the holes themselves.
The metro had not commented at the time of going to print.
