We’re on the road to nowhere

SA roads in a sad state of decay

THE city of Johannesburg’s road management company gets an average of 250 claims each year for vehicle damage caused by poor roads. In its past financial year, the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA), spent more than R170 000 on such claims, with most of them related to vehicle damage caused by potholes.

Sipho Nhlapo, JRA operations manager, said the agency was unable to provide an “exhaustive list of what motorists can claim for”, but each case was assessed on its own merits. Nhlapo claimed that routine maintenance was conducted on “all roads on an annual or 18-month basis” to avoid deterioration. But the backlog relating to the city’s roads’ construction, upgrades, resurfacing and rehabilitation is estimated to stand at R2.6-billion. Nhlapo said 24% of the roads were in good condition while 18% were in a very good state. About 18%, he said, were in a poor condition, with 3% of Joburg’s roads classified as being in a very poor state. The remaining 37% of roads were “mainly in informal settlements that have recently been declared townships and some of the old townships where JRA is upgrading to tarred roads, such as Orange Farm, Ivory Park, Braamfischerville and Diepsloot,” Nhlapo said.

With JRA’s budget standing at R80-million, maintaining existing roads while trying to upgrade roads in townships has been problematic.

Parktown prawns and potholes, the size of moon craters

The condition of Parktown North’s 10th Avenue is evidence of this. The road, where residents pay municipal rates of up to R4000, has been referred to as the suburb’s “dried-out river bed”. Vesselina Pentcheva, who lives on the gravel-like 10th Avenue, said: “I have not alerted the council to the street’s condition because nothing ever gets done here.

“It has been like that ever since I moved here five years ago. It is not worth what we pay for [rates], but thank God I drive a 4×4,” she added.

Lindsay Lomas, also a resident on 10th Avenue, said she bought a 4×4 a few months ago.

“I used to feel it when I drove a smaller car. But now because I drive a 4×4 it’s better. The only problem is when I push my twin babies’ pram on the street while taking them for a walk,” she said.

In Ekurhuleni, Katlehong resident Mega Ndobe told Metro that many of the area’s roads were not tarred and those that had been tarred were in bad condition. “It is difficult to get around because our cars get worn out quickly by the roads,” he said.

The JRA’s Nhlapo said: “We generally work on all our roads as and when the need is identified. To improve this we have inspectors from our strategically placed depots driving around to identify roads that need maintaining.” ~ Pah! Praat kak man give us another one.