I am delighted to read that the Johannesburg Roads Agency is to go ahead with some major road construction. Let’s hope this includes Bryanston Drive in Sandton which is a major east/west arterial that has been left to crumble away.
My gripe is that after 20 years of neglect, it’s not just our roads that are in urgent need of repairs, but all that goes with them. Regular maintenance seems to be beyond the capability of anyone at the City of Johannesburg.
For months, I have been asking for the kerb signs and road markings to be re-painted. Everywhere you drive there is a similar lack of street signage. The signpost on the corner of Pitt and Devonshire roads in Bryanston is one of hundreds that have bitten the dust. Who at the roads agency cares that their sorry lack of maintenance sees name plates rust away and fall off their posts? Visitors to Johannesburg must find it a nightmare. When you come to a major intersection in heavy traffic is there a visible street name in sight? Forget it. Basically, our collective rates are being wasted and not spent accordingly by non-professional people who don’t care about ratepayers’ needs.
One of the most irritating things of all is the way we, the paying public, are simply ignored. Try phoning the City’s disastrous call centre – then imagine how wonderful it would be to have an answer centre.
Even asking repeatedly for at least half a dozen of rubbish bins to be placed at the litter-strewn taxi rank has drawn a blank. Who allows all those advertising bins to litter our suburbs? Yet, at places where they are really needed such as taxi ranks, there are either none or not nearly enough. The sooner we can get rid of the present ineffective council the better.
