Ward 94 roads under the spotlight as councillor David Foley presses city for accountability
Ward 94 councillor David Foley has intensified efforts to address long-standing road maintenance backlogs, putting pressure on the city and the Joburg Roads Agency to account for delays, budgets and plans.
Concerning the state of road maintenance in Ward 94,
councillor David Foley has stepped up his fight for improved service delivery by formally interrogating the City of Johannesburg on the state of road maintenance and resurfacing in the ward.
He said he has been observing that the Region A team of the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) is frequently deployed to projects in other regions of
Johannesburg, which is negatively impacting service delivery within Ward 94.
Read more: Ward 94 councillor hasn’t taken leave in 10 years to serve over 20 000 residents
Foley decided to follow up through a series of written questions to the MMC for Transport in terms of Rule 105(2) of the Council’s Standing Rules and Orders.
MMC Kenny Kunene responded to his questions and confirmed that JRA resources are regularly redeployed city-wide to allow for skills transfer and operational efficiency. While the city maintains that this practice improves overall service delivery, records show that Ward 94 currently has 49 outstanding road repair items, some unresolved for more than a year.
Kunene further confirmed that there is no ward-specific turnaround time for road repairs, with a single standard applied across Johannesburg. “Outstanding issues submitted weekly by the ward inspector are captured through JRA’s Hansen system and prioritised based on available resources and approved budgets.”
Foley also highlighted resurfacing concerns, noting that only three roads had been resurfaced in Ward 94 over the past nine years, despite the ward contributing millions in monthly rates.
Kunene confirmed that 3.11km of road was resurfaced in the last financial year in Witkoppen, with resurfacing decisions guided by road condition assessments and budget constraints.
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He also acknowledged a significant resurfacing backlog of approximately R1b per region, with only R144m allocated city-wide for the current financial year, translating to about R20m per region.
While no specific timelines were provided for further interventions in Ward 94, Kunene confirmed that the ward forms part of Region A’s rolling resurfacing programme and that future planning meetings will include Ward 94 priorities.
A mayoral or MMC oversight blitz for the ward has not yet been scheduled, but the city indicated that dates would be communicated through official channels once confirmed.
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