Frustrated Fourways resident Maj Saffari has voiced his anger over what he calls: “Temporary fixes,” to persistent potholes on Cedar and Uranium roads, accusing local authorities of wasting resources and failing the community.

“We can no longer afford to put a Band-Aid on open wounds,” he said, adding that the same spot has been repaired multiple times since July 2022, with no lasting results.

Read more: JRA is fixing Ward 94s streets

Despite rising rates and taxes, Saffari said Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) continues to deliver short-term solutions, calling the repeated repairs a sign of incompetency. “Over six times the potholes on the road have been fixed, but it’s only temporary, until a new one appears on the same spot. That is our tax money. Why is it that the road agency does not hold their contractors liable for their workmanship, if it only lasts for a short period of time?”

Saffari said contractors gets richer, while tax payers money pays for it repeatedly. “Why are they not dealing with the road from the root, so that we don’t have to face the same issue after wet weather, or from trucks moving on the road?”

The media team from JRA and Gauteng Roads and Transport have been contacted with the following questions.

• Please confirm how many times Cedar and Uranium roads have been repaired since July 2022, and explain why a more durable solution has not been implemented despite ongoing complaints from residents.
• What mechanisms do you have in place to hold contractors accountable when repairs fail shortly after completion, and are there any consequences for poor workmanship in cases like this?
• Given repeated repair failures and concerns about deeper structural damage, what is your long-term strategy to ensure that roads, like Cedar and Uranium, are properly reconstructed to withstand weather conditions and heavy traffic?

An update will be published as soon as the responses are received.

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