Johannesburg – More than 100 000 potholes in Joburg have been repaired in one year since the Pothole Patrol was launched in May 2021.
The Pothole Patrol, a partnership between the City of Joburg, Discovery Insure and Dialdirect Insurance, launched an app to simplify the reporting process for potholes in October last year. The partners said this accelerated the programme's output.
“While the unprecedented wet weather unfortunately exacerbated the already dire pothole situation in Johannesburg, and an unexpected bitumen shortage has caused a few delays, we’ve successfully managed to exceed our mandated repair target by 25%, month-on-month,” said Anneli Retief, head of Dialdirect.
Retief added that the partners also increased their repair fleet and employed additional resources to help manage the increased number of reports.
Anton Ossip, chief executive of Discovery Insure, said the introduction of the Pothole Patrol has paid dividends in the form of reduced pothole-related insurance claims in Johannesburg.
“In March, we announced that the benefits of this initiative are evident in Discovery Insure data, which shows a 26% reduction in pothole-related claims in Johannesburg, compared to an increase of 45% across the rest of Gauteng,” said Ossip.
According to the partners, the Pothole Patrol received a very high number of reports from William Nicol Drive where 155 potholes were reported, Jan Smuts Road where 110 potholes were reported, Ontdekkers Road where 104 potholes were reported, and Beyers Naude Drive where 90 were reported.
“Potholes have many causes, including poor road maintenance, water logging and blocked stormwater drains, and inadequate capacity to expeditiously respond to the new potholes that keep popping up, not least with the very high and unseasonal levels of rainfall experienced in Gauteng,” said executive mayor Mpho Phalatse.
Ossip added that the partners also noted repeated damage reports from certain areas that were often the result of underlying water damage. “While intermittent, superficial repairs are undertaken; we are sure motorists navigating these intersections will agree that a more permanent solution is needed,” he said.
Retief noted that some road defects fell beyond the Pothole Patrol’s scope as it was mandated to repair potholes measuring a maximum size of 1m by 1m and anything bigger than this or deeper than 3m was referred to as a “reinstatement”.
“Reinstatements, road excavations, deep trenches or cracks are caused by entities and other service providers, either repairing or installing their services, and are not classified as potholes. The Pothole Patrol escalates reinstatements to the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) as per our mandate,” said JRA chief executive Siya Nodu.
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The Star