Buffalo City Municipality launched its citywide road maintenance programme on October 7, after heavy rains in August and September caused substantial damage to already pothole-ridden roads.
The multi-layered programme is focused on pothole patching, road surfacing, rehabilitation and re-gravelling.
The metro is now busy with pothole patching on key roads across the city, such as St George’s Street in Southernwood.
The municipality is also dealing with increasing litigation from commuters due to vehicle damage caused by potholes.
As a result, pothole patching was prioritised, however, re-surfacing of the roads will be considered, depending on the budget available.
BCM spokesperson Samkelo Ngwenya said roads targeted for pothole patching were selected based on reports received from ward councillors.
“Ward councillors and ward committees need to submit regular reports . . . about roads [in their wards] that are bad,” Ngwenya said.
The target areas include Oxford Street, North End, Gonubie Main Road, Bonza Bay Road in Beacon Bay, and main roads in Mdantsane and Scenery Park, among others.
Ngwenya said BCM district engineers and superintendents had been inspecting and identifying the worst potholes in the busiest streets.
Ward 18 councillor Jason McDowell said he reported monthly to BCM about roads that were a concern in his ward.
He said there was also a WhatsApp group specifically for infrastructure issues that councillors posted to daily to alert the municipality about challenges such as potholes.
“To be honest they [BCM] need to prove this new initiative is going to work because this is a basic [need] that should happen continually,” he said.
In Zwelitsha Zone 10 we still have Gravel Roads that when it rains we have floods and our cars sink