Delays in reinstatements by City entity, the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA), has left residents and ward councillors at a loss.
Johannesburg Water has dug up pavements and roadsides to replace aged and compromised infrastructure around the Sandton and Bryanston area. In most cases, the tar, curbing or paving needs to be reinstated following the repair. It is the responsibility of the roads agency to carry out these reinstatements.
According to a number of residents and ward councillors in the area, it appears that JRA cannot keep up. “Reinstatement of tar, curbing and paving following the burst of water pipes continue to be a massive service delivery failure of the City. This has been the case for many years – it is nothing new,” said Ward 102 councillor David Potter.
“With the ageing water infrastructure, both Joburg Water and the Joburg Roads Agency should have a synergy in attending to the reinstatement of our roads, but they simply ignore the crisis and need, putting motorists, pedestrians and cyclists in severe danger,” he added.
Resident Elinor Bodinger echoed Potter’s frustration that reinstatements have remained a consistent problem. “This is a big issue because the pipes need to be replaced, especially due to the change in weather,” she said.
Bodinger added that this ongoing issue will simply continue. “There is not even a team dedicated to this.”
According to Ward 90 councillor Martin Williams, sometimes the wayleave holder, the one digging up the pavement or road, is not necessarily a City entity but rather a private contractor such as a fibre company. This can sometimes mean that the process of reinstatement is longer.
“There are instances where wayleave holders do not communicate adequately before digging up people’s driveways. And sometimes the reinstatements are not of an acceptable standard,” he said.
Williams added that residents in Morisim Road in Hyde Park reported that their driveways were dug up in November last year. Because a reinstatement has yet to be done, their driveways are ‘sinking daily’.
“Things don’t always go smoothly, even at the best of times. For example, we now have a complaint about the ‘buckling’ of the newly-laid tarmac at Oxford and Chaplin roads in Illovo.”
Ward 103 councillor Vincent Earp said many reinstatements have not been completed by both JRA and Joburg Water. The longest outstanding reinstatement in his ward is along Bantry Road in Bryanston. “This has been outstanding for more than a year. The pavement was dug up numerous times by Joburg Water in order to repair multiple pipe bursts,” he said.
Two incidents in particular, which Joburg Water reportedly dug up last year to carry out repairs, affect traffic during peak hour each day – Coleraine Drive in Bryanston (after Bryanston Drive) and South Road in Kramerville (between Bowling Avenue and Edison Street).
Potter added that a number of ward councillors have raised this ongoing concern in various platforms and more recently at a meeting with the MMC of Transport, councillor Nonhlanhla Makhuba in September 2019 held at the JRA Strijdom Park.
While JRA was contacted for comment on various occasions since 10 March, no response was given by the time of going to print on 16 March.
Williams noted the usual practice for reinstatements involving Joburg Water. “They [Joburg Water] will replace the soil, etc. This is given time to settle, perhaps five days. It becomes the JRA’s responsibility to finalise the tar/asphalt surface,” he added.
Joburg Water spokesperson Isaac Dhludhlu added that the roads agency can only carry out reinstatements once the repair job has been fully completed. “Some cases can take a long time to complete,” he said.
Potter concluded, “I trust that the value chain of reinstatement work will be a focus of the executive mayor’s remaining term of office in the interests of our city residents.”
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https://staging.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/247890/executive-mayor-councillor-geoff-makhubo-committed-making-roads-city-world-class/
