It’s illegal to fix a pothole yourself
Fed up with waiting, Sunninghill residents filled potholes themselves, but now JRA says their good intentions may have broken the law.
Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) has confirmed that it is illegal for residents to repair roads, including filling potholes, without prior written permission.
This comes after Fourways Review published a story on June 18, detailing how Sunninghill residents, frustrated by JRA’s delays, took it upon themselves to patch dangerous potholes in their area.
In response to queries about whether such community-led repairs are allowed, Mosa Makhalima, communications officer at the roads agency, said JRA welcomes help from the community, however, this should be done in line with the City of Johannesburg’s Metropolitan Municipality code of practice for work on road reserve, published as City of Johannesburg public road and miscellaneous by-law, 2004, in the Gauteng provincial gazette 179 on May 21, 2004.
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Makhalima said, the by-laws outlined under chapter four of the code of practice, which deals with works on, across, or under any public road, states that no person may make or cause to be made any hole, trench, pit, or tunnel on or under any road reserve, or remove any soil, metal, or macadam from the road reserve without the prior written permission of the council, and on payment of the prescribed fee, unless that person is authorised to do so in terms of any other law.
Furthermore, before performing any work in the road reserve, the person who has received written permission must then follow the procedures contained in the code of practice.
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“JRA works on specifications for every roadwork, be it speedhumps, repairing potholes, etc, anything that is not within the specifications that might cause damage to the road reserve, or other vehicles or road users, and JRA might be held accountable. That is why only authorised people, with a permit, are allowed to work on the road reserves.
“Again, anyone intending to undertake work on the city’s roads and road reserves must apply for, and obtain, a wayleave from JRA. Wayleave application procedure and application forms are available on the website: https://jra.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/wayleave_appl_july_2021.pdf.”
Makhalima said JRA welcomes partnerships with other businesses or forums in the fight against road defects, be it traffic lights, potholes, etc, however, this should be done within the aforementioned municipal by-laws.
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“We urge community members to refrain from taking matters into their own hands. Residents are encouraged to become active citizens by reporting road defects to the City of Johannesburg or JRA through official channels.”
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