Johannesburg - Joburg motorists, be prepared to negotiate unattended potholes for the next few weeks.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) says some of its roadworks programmes will be delayed due to a nationwide shortage of bitumen.
The agency says road resurfacing and patching of potholes has been temporarily halted.
Bitumen is an oil-based, semi-liquid substance used in the production of the asphalt mix for road surface construction.
JRA acting managing director Mpho Kau said all refineries were undergoing maintenance.
“Total and Engen are the only refineries that have confirmed operations will resume in early August. As a result, the JRA asphalt plant has stopped production,” he said.
“Operations are expected to resume from August 10. We apologise for the inconvenience.”
Production at one of the refineries is to resume on Tuesday and the loading for collection by suppliers should resume on Saturday.
“In the interim, serious potholes will be filled with cold-mix asphalt, which uses water and hand compaction,” Kau said.
Once the agency receives the first load of bitumen next week, production of asphalt should begin.
“The JRA will do whatever it takes to make safe any serious potholes with the cold-mix bags. We are communicating daily with suppliers to ensure we get bitumen as soon as possible. We will keep the public informed at all times,” he said.
The Star