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Potholes: South Africa must rid itself of this curse
South Africa has a serious problem: potholes. They cause billions of rands in car damage and also threaten the lives of motorists.
Potholes with ‘ANC’ written next to it at the corner of CR Swart Drive and Anita Street in Northworld, Johannesburg, 18 December 2022. Photo: The Citizen/Nigel Sibanda
ANC exiles in the Frontline States in southern Africa were sometimes regarded as arrogant by their hosts because they would proclaim that when they get to be in power, they would never allow their country’s infrastructure to crumble.
Potholes in South Africa…
Ironically, in some of those countries today, the potholes in the roads have largely been fixed, while in South Africa.
…spreading faster than Covid
Under an ANC government, they are spreading faster than the Covid pandemic.
In October last year, a former president of the South African Roads Federation, Mutshutshu Nxumalo, claimed there were more than 25 million potholes on South Africa’s roads.
Not so, says the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), which has been put in charge of a national campaign to repair potholes, known as Vala Zonke (fill or close them all).
Thousands of potholes already reported
According to Sanral, Nxumalo’s figure would represent an average of 149 potholes per kilometre of our 168 000km of paved roads, which would be “improbable and unlikely”.
A pothole every 6m might seem a lot … yet we bet there are plenty of places in our towns and cities where that is not unusual.
A positive about the Vala Zonke campaign is that it has, via apps and the internet, enabled members of the public to report just under 27 000 potholes.
The danger of this curse
According to Sanral, only 618 were reported on the national roads, for which it was responsible, and all were fixed within a 48-hours deadline.
If only our provincial and municipal authorities were as energetic about dealing with potholes as Sanral is.
These ugly blots on the landscape not only portray an image of South Africa sliding down the slope to Third World basketcase status, but they also threaten the lives of motorists.
And it probably causes billions of rands in damage to wheels and tyres, which, in turn, has a negative impact on the economy.
We have to rid ourselves of the curse.
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