Potholes: adapt or DIY

What are you and I going to do about the terrible state of Johannesburg roads, exposed by heavy rains? Apocalyptic predictions received a double boost on Monday. The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) chief executive’s credentials were publicly shredded.

And the SA Institution of Civil Engineering said half of South Africa’s public infrastructure has collapsed or is collapsing.

Having been in the JRA hot seat for three months, Tshepo Mahanuke can’t be blamed for all potholes and degradation.

But he is ill-equipped to fix all this. There have long been allegations of corruption in JRA, whose annual budget is R1.7 billion. In 2018, Sean Philips resigned as managing director, citing then-mayor Herman Mashaba’s reluctance to act on board-level interference in tenders.

Simplistically, one reason why JRA doesn’t have enough money is that much of the cream has been whipped off.

We don’t need civil engineers to tell us the country’s infrastructure is collapsing.

It’s obvious. But we do need their expertise if further collapse is to be prevented.

Residents can’t be blamed for thinking that if they pay world-class rates, they should expect world-class service.

But that’s not what happens.

No matter how much we demand from managers and staff, they don’t have the resources to do their jobs properly. Too much has been diverted.

Contracts, new and old, are a shambles. Potholes and rutted roads are not restricted to our “world-class” city.

Potholes are also big issues in parts of the US. In Britain, where John McAdam (born 1756) invented the road tarring process, things are not going smoothly, away from main motorways.

This year, the UK’s road repair backlog hit £12.64 billion (about R257.2 billion).

In March, rock star Rod Stewart (77) organised a do-it-yourself (DIY) pothole repair in his hometown Harlow in Essex, attracting mixed reviews.

Back in Joburg, some residents’ associations have been doing similar work, after trying official channels for months.

The Hurlingham Manor Residents’ Association recently tackled a species even worse than potholes. Joburg Water Reinstatements (JWRs) evoke dread among councillors.

Trouble starts when Joburg Water breaks the surface of a road or pavement. This could be to repair or replace a pipe, trace the source of a leak, or whatever.

Then the Joburg Water (JW) team departs.

Previously, JW and JRA had a fairly cooperative arrangement. Depending on the nature of the job, JW would backfill with soil either immediately or after a day or two of waiting to check whether a repair might leak again.

After a week or so, JRA would then neatly seal the surface with asphalt

However, in recent years JRA have stopped this. There have been disputes about which entity would pay and JRA have not always been quick to issue wayleaves.

A JRA wayleave is written permission to carry out work according to specifications

In Joburg, thousands of excavations are left open. Heavy rains have washed away backfill soil.

Talks between JRA and JW are underway again this week.

In my ward, residents are researching quotes and wayleave procedures.

We have to help fix the city and become less reliant on entities.

That’s the future: adapt or DIY.

We don’t need civil engineers to tell us the country’s infrastructure is collapsing. But we do need their expertise if further collapse is to be prevented.