Residents of Lakefield in Ekurhuleni have taken matters into their own hands and are financing the repair of potholes in their community.
Frustrated residents say the poor state of their roads has forced households to contribute between R50 and R100 each to hire private contractors to repair major potholes in the area.
The situation has drawn the attention of civil rights organisation, the Society for the Protection of Our Constitution (Spoc), which launched legal action on March 4 against transport minister Barbara Creecy in an attempt to compel her department to intervene in what it describes as a growing infrastructure crisis in the Ekurhuleni municipality.
The organisation launched an urgent application in the Johannesburg high court, demanding that national government, the Gauteng transport MEC and the Ekurhuleni municipality provide a detailed plan within three months of the court order of how the roads in Ekurhuleni, including Springs, Benoni and Germiston, would be repaired and maintained. They also seeking that they fix and repair roads within six months of the court’s order.
Government respondents have until next Wednesday to indicate whether they intend to oppose this application.
According to Spoc’s court papers, the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality has allegedly failed to use a budget of R235m allocated for the maintenance and repair of deteriorating road infrastructure.
Lakefield resident Shiraz Randeree told the Sunday Times that the pothole-ridden roads have caused him significant financial strain due to the frequent replacement of vehicle tyres.
“I’ve been living in this area for six years, and I’ve had to replace my tyres more than three times. It got to the point where I changed the car I was driving and opted for a bakkie instead,” he said.
Randeree said vehicle damage has become a common problem for residents. He initially attempted to fill potholes with stones, but the situation worsened as the holes continued to expand.
“The roads are in a terrible state, and every time I alert the authorities I’m told that they will come and fix them, but they never do. It’s been about three years since these roads were last repaired,” he said.
Randeree took the Sunday Times to Phillips Road in Beyers Park, which he described as one of the most problematic roads in the community, noting that residents had previously paid for repairs themselves.
Apart from the worn-out road surface, infrastructure such as drains and stormwater systems become flooded, placing both motorists and pedestrians at risk.
— Mohammed Arbee, Springs resident and spokesperson for Spoc
“Another problem we experience is delays when emergency services need to access the area. The roads are also very dark at night, which makes people vulnerable to car hijackings,” he said.
Mohammed Arbee, who lives in Springs and is a spokesperson for Spoc, said motorists in his area face frequent accidents because road markings have faded or disappeared entirely.
“We have a serious service delivery problem in Ekurhuleni. For instance, the traffic lights on Kingsway Road in Springs have not been working for about three years,” he said.
Arbee added that reporting the issues at municipal offices had produced no results, as officials allegedly told residents there was no budget to address the problems.
Arbee said only national government can effectively remedy the situation.
“Conditions worsen when it rains because potholes become concealed, leading to accidents and injury to people and damage to property,” Arbee said in an affidavit.
“Apart from the worn-out road surface, infrastructure such as drains and stormwater systems become flooded, placing both motorists and pedestrians at risk.”
The court papers further argue that the deteriorating state of the roads constitute a violation of constitutional rights.
“This is therefore a life-and-death issue. Poor road maintenance and development contribute to widespread violations of fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Children are unable to access adequate medical attention, particularly in emergency situations,” the application read.
Attempts were made to obtain comment from the Ekurhuleni municipality regarding the matter, but no response had been received at the time of publication. The article will be updated once comment is received from the municipality.
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