Residents in the leafy suburb of Blairgowrie once enjoyed quiet drives along tree-lined streets.

Today, every journey feels like an obstacle course. Potholes dominate nearly every road in the area, forcing motorists to swerve endlessly to avoid damage to tyres, suspension, and more. For many, the situation is more than just inconvenient.

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From Mackay Avenue to Geneva Road and especially Bantam Drive, conditions have worsened. Bantam Drive is heavily affected by underground water constantly running down the road, leaving it riddled with holes and nearly impossible to drive on. Blairgowrie Community Association (BCA) co-director Harold Flieshman said the issue has been reported to the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) for months.

“There are many roads that are in a worse state. Bantam is heavily impacted by water, but the two entities involved do not talk,” he claimed. Flieshman added that the BCA will continue raising concerns and pleading for urgent road maintenance before conditions deteriorate further.

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Ward 102 councillor Bea Campbell-Cloete described the pothole situation as ‘extremely bad.’ Residents are bearing the brunt of burst tyres and bent rims. More often than not, small potholes are left to become craters. This is not acceptable.” She said that while JRA has acknowledged current constraints, the problem should not be passed on to residents.

“Over the last couple of days, we have seen an increase in teams on the ground filling potholes. I want to urge residents to report their potholes again and escalate this to their ward councillors so we can have these potholes fixed as soon as possible before we run out of asphalt again. From my side, I want to know from JRA senior management what they are doing to fill the capacity gap.”

Campbell-Cloete added that too few teams are available due to staff resignations and unfilled posts at the roads agency.

“We need to see potholes being filled while they are still small rather than waiting until they become a bigger problem. By leaving these potholes, the cost of fixing them increases. Residents cannot continue to pay for bad planning by the entities.”

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