There is no end to the city’s pothole nightmare as a significant number of potholes in residential, business and industrial areas – even after continuous news reports and complaints – have not been fixed.
Several residents expressed their dismay.
When the municipality patches the potholes, it only lasts a week and then the fixed area is open again, they said.
Review investigated and found that residential areas including Ladanna, Nirvana, Westenburg, Flora Park, Bendor, and Welgelegen are affected, and there are several streets in the city including Dahl, Plein, Grobler, Rissik, Webster Street and Matlala Road that are also affected.
Business and industrial areas include Superbia, Laboria and Magna Via.
In Marmer Street in Magna Via the potholes are so bad, that trucks drive on the sidewalk to avoid the potholes.
In Westenburg residents filled the potholes with gravel, but the holes only stayed closed for a few days and then they were open again.
A Westenburg resident said the potholes in their suburb were so bad, it looked like there had been an earthquake. “Almost every street in Westenburg has potholes, but the streets mostly affected are Ben Harris, John Smith, Whitehead, and Buys Street,” the resident explained.
Motorists in Nirvana said the potholes there were so bad they had to “duck and dive” when they drove.
Residents are accusing the municipality of being negligent by taking so long to fix the roads and they questioned whether the municipality would be liable if a vehicle was damaged by a pothole. Matshidiso Mothapo, a municipal spokesperson, said the municipality continued on a day-to-day basis with the repairing of potholes.
“We are currently prioritising main roads depending on the traffic flow, however we have a dedicated programme that will go on full scale next week. We plead with residents to please be patient and to keep in mind that the weather influences the road fixing programme,” Mothapo explains.
He added that the municipality would be using specialised equipment to deal with potholes faster than manual labour would take.
“We apologise for the inconvenience, but the municipality is committed to run this programme to ensure the roads are maintained to an acceptable quality,” Mothapo said.
Residents can report potholes to (015) 290 2372/3/4.
