Johannesburg Road Agency (JRA) has responded to a dug-up six-year-old pothole that was fixed by residents at the intersection on Kelly Avenue and President Fouché Drive.
Community Heroes, a group of residents in Bokruin and Bromhof, took it upon themselves to fix the pothole after it was ignored by both Johannesburg Water and JRA. However, they were caught by surprise days later when the pothole was freshly dug up.
JRA operations manager for marketing and communications, Bertha Peter-Scheepers clarified that the dug-up ‘pothole’ was not a pothole but a reinstatement of a burst Johannesburg Water pipe. Before JRA could attend to the reinstatement, they first needed to have a repair order (authorisation) from Johannesburg Water, which was provided to JRA. “Upon receiving the repair order, JRA went ahead and fixed the dug-up reinstatement.”
She also confirmed it was the entity that dug it up after it was fixed by local residents. This was because repairing any kind of damage on the City’s Road is the sole responsibility of JRA.
“Any civilian that is found to be carrying out any form of repair work on the City’s roads is by so doing contravening or going against the City’s By-laws. It should be noted that although the residents took it upon themselves to fix the reinstatement, they went about it the wrong way.”
She added that upon investigating the fixed reinstatement, JRA established that the whole process that was followed by the residents was wrong because they used cold asphalt and also didn’t apply bitumen. And because of this, JRA had no choice but to dig up the repaired reinstatement and do it the right way.
The residents, however, can apply for a wayleave which is permission to do work on the road.
“The wayleave is dependent on the situation at hand – whether it is for an emergency or a planned occurrence. A wayleave for an emergency, such as a burst water pipe or any emergency that is life-threatening, can be issued immediately.”
She added that for a planned occurrence such as installing fibre cables, the time it takes to be granted a wayleave is dependent on the responses or turnaround times of affected entities like City Power or Johannesburg Water. In cases where there are no delays or backlog, the process can take a minimum of three days.
The resident group, however, did not let anything demotivate them as they recently took their shovels and brooms to clean the pavements at the side of the roads.
Nikki Belt of the resident group said, “We are going to clean, clear and repair our area to the best of our ability. This will be the area that dreams are made of. This has fuelled our fire and we are ready and willing to take on anything that comes our way.
“Many entities in our area are doing phenomenal work. I believe that we have the best pothole team in the country. I know we have issues but who doesn’t? We are not here to name and shame. We are here to assist where we can. It is time to rise, stand together and make a difference. I believe together we will prosper.”
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