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Mayor Morero launches war on potholes.
Joburg mayor Dada Morero with members of the mayoral committee and officials from the Johannesburg Roads Agency at Hyde Park in Johannesburg on 10 July 2025, during the launch of the War on Potholes campaign in Ward 90. Picture: Nigel Sibanda
Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero has launched a “war on potholes” in Ward 90. This campaign is set to deliver on the mayor’s commitment from the state of the city address to prioritise road infrastructure, enhance mobility and restore service delivery.
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When speaking to The Citizen, Morero emphasised, “my argument has always been planning and management issues which were weaknesses we are correcting. That is why you can see that it’s possible. This thing can be done so we are doing it. We have corrected management and supervision weaknesses and we believe with motivated staff and leadership, we will deliver the results that we want.”
The campaign is set to tackle Ward 90’s potholes and more by the end of August. It will then be assessed to further fix what might have been missed during the operation.
“By the time we leave here, month-end of August, there will be no potholes here. That is the commitment we are making. We would have cleared all potholes and storm water blockages that are there. We would have also dealt with streetlights and traffic signals.”
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Martin William, ward councillor of Ward 90 said: “This arose because less than a month ago the mayor said at a press conference that there were no potholes in ward 90. I disputed that. I gave him a new list this morning.”
With the mayor and members of the mayoral committee walking to the first two areas to be tackled in what seemed to be a media frenzy, the councillor said: “We’re very pleased that the mayor is here with all these people and that the ward is getting all this attention. The proof of the pudding will come later; we’ll have to do another check.”
Money to be spent
Commenting on the amount of money to be allocated to this campaign, Morero said: “We are looking at considerable amounts probably in the ranges of R300 [million] to R700 million, there’s also money for resurfacing. So we will spend, the idea also is about spending and ensure that we have spent. The whole idea is that we must respond, there’s no excuse, we must respond to infrastructure challenges.”
Morero confirmed that no new employees were recruited for the campaign.
