Tshwane under pressure as residents complain about water outages, power and potholes

The City of Tshwane is under pressure from ongoing complaints over water outages, power and potholes. Spokesperson Lindela Mashigo said employees doing the repairs would be paid overtime, adding that the city had funds to replace parts of the pipes.

“The Grove Mall offered material to speed up the repair process,” he said. Mashigo said there was a backlog due to persistent rain.

‘Inherited potholes’

Last month, Tshwane mayor Nasiphi Moya said in her state of the city address that the administration inherited a backlog of 692 potholes and repaired 687, achieving a 99% reduction.

“It is true that we have achieved a 99% reduction of potholes. However, there is a recurrence of backlog due to persistent rain. This remains a challenge that our maintenance teams are addressing,” she said.

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This week, MMC for roads and transport, Tlangi Mogale, visited the Daspoort Tunnel, which was closed for pothole repairs.

“Hot mix asphalt proudly produced by your own City of Tshwane quarry. No external sources, no procurement processes, just a team of dedicated officials doing this work for the betterment of our city. One of the strategic moves we are making is to also provide and sell this asphalt to other municipalities and users,” she posted on X.

Last week, a portion of Steve Biko Road between Trevenna and Francis Baard Road was closed off after a suspected sinkhole was confirmed to be an erosion hole.

Residents have reported various potholes following the heavy downpours in April. Pretoria is riddled with potholes from Silverton to Rietvlei, Lynnwood Road to January Masilela Drive. A massive pothole was also reported in Hatfield, where the road joins the N1 northbound.

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On a Facebook page, Ek is van die Ooste (I am from the east), five residents reported damaging their tyres and rims driving through a pothole. It is said that new tyres and wheel alignment cost up to R2 200.

Tshwane on ‘service delivery strike’

DA councillor Jacqui Uys said Equestria had 197 potholes, of which 67 had been fixed by the community working with the DA. Uys said the community and the DA recently fixed 15 out of nearly 40 potholes in Die Wilgers and 12 out of nearly 20 in Wapadrand.

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“The ANC in Tshwane seems to be on a service delivery strike, its latest budget report for March also shows this and we can see that this administration is understanding on service delivery with more than 15%,” she said.

DA ward 56 councillor Tiaan Dippenaar said parts of his ward, which includes Hatfield, Hillcrest and Brooklyn, were “undriveable”.

“Deep, dangerous potholes force motorists to swerve recklessly, putting lives at risk. Not only is this a serious safety hazard, but it is also causing thousands of rands in damage to our vehicles every day.

“We are not talking about small bumps. These craters are destroying tyres, bending rims, snapping suspensions and robbing us of our right to move safely through our communities,” he said.

Dippenaar said the neglect from the Tshwane administration was shocking and the excuses unacceptable.

“This is a failure of basic service delivery, the bare minimum that residents should expect from their city,” he said.

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– marizkac@citizen.co.za