City puts residents’ infrastructure concerns to rest
For now, the area is slowly recovering, but residents say they will keep a close eye to ensure promises are kept and safety is fully restored.
Progress has finally been made on several infrastructure issues near Johan and Zephania roads. This comes after months of complaints from residents.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) and Johannesburg Water (JW) have taken action to fix water leaks, unfinished roadworks, and missing signage after the problems were publicly reported.
The JRA has confirmed that an excavation site at the corner of Johan and Zephania roads, which was left open by City Power, has now been backfilled and stabilised. According to Khaya Gqibitole, JRA’s head of regional operations, the agency has granted permission for full road reinstatement, and the surface will be fully restored by July 6.
However, another open hole on the sidewalk, left behind after JW attended to a leak, remains unresolved. The JRA stated that the site has been escalated to JW for urgent backfilling, and since the area is not tarred or paved, no further action is expected from JRA at this stage.
Safety concerns at this busy intersection have begun to be addressed positively. Following complaints that motorists were ignoring the stop street, JRA conducted an inspection and found that the stop signs were missing, although road markings were still visible. The signs were replaced on June 30.
In addition to the above, both water leaks outside a local school have now been repaired. The school principal, Alison Dodge, who helped raise the alarm on behalf of the community, shared this with the Roodepoort Northsider and expressed her satisfaction with the work that has been done.
“Since the newspaper has published our issues, there has been some progress as far as service delivery is concerned,” she said.
While the repairs represent an important update to the situation, many residents feel that the improvements only came after sustained media and public pressure. Community members continue to report electricity outages, which often persist for several days.
