The Gauteng government says it has repaired 97% of potholes on key roads before the G20 leaders’ summit in Johannesburg, Tshwane and Ekurhuleni.
Premier Panyaza Lesufi announced the progress on Wednesday during a media briefing in Johannesburg after a meeting with international relations and co-operation minister Ronald Lamola on the province’s readiness to host the high-level gathering.
The summit is scheduled for November 22 to 23 at Nasrec, with South Africa the first African country to lead the G20.
Lesufi said extensive work had been undertaken to revitalise infrastructure before the summit. He said:
- about 1,523 potholes have been repaired, with the project 97% complete;
- work is 40% complete on the 456 road markings scheduled for refresh;
- grass cutting, litter picking and herbicide application across 481km is at 70%;
- the installation of 11.21km of new fencing is in the early stages, at 4.4% complete;
- rehabilitation work on 23,052m² of lighting is nearing completion at 88.7%;
- repairs to 64 traffic signals are halfway complete at 50%.
- repairs to 21,274 street lights are well under way, at 74% complete; and
- maintenance on 443 stormwater drains is almost finished, at 88.4% complete.
The scale of the project comes months after Johannesburg mayor Dada Morero estimated in July that repairing every pothole in the city would cost at least R700m.
While the province hailed the upgrades as progress, many residents and opposition leaders criticised the focus on G20-related routes.
DA caucus leader in Johannesburg Belinda Kayser-Echeozonjoku posted a photo of a gaping pothole on social media, saying: “Dada Morero fixing the G20 route while residents who have to go to work to pay services are stuck in traffic and face this is not serving the people or improvement. This is a mess. When this bridge collapses over the M1, you are fixing for G20.”
Resident Sarah Gravett expressed similar frustrations: “Really? And what about the others? Repair potholes because of the G20 and not because it should be done as a matter of course? No respect for citizens.”
Cape Town mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis commented earlier, expressing cautious optimism while noting Johannesburg residents deserved better.
“For the sake of long-suffering residents of Joburg we are absolutely rooting for these promises to result in working traffic lights, roads and more. Hopefully this is widespread and not just along G20 routes,” he said.
X user Kazi Radebe was blunt in his criticism: “So if it weren’t for the G20, you had no intention of ensuring the roads used by your residents daily are ‘at the standard they should be'? It can’t be.”
Beyond potholes, Lesufi said the Johannesburg presidential working group has been driving efforts to tackle long-standing service delivery issues, including governance, financial stability, water and sanitation, electricity supply, safety and inner-city renewal.
Transport MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela also raised concerns that infrastructure work was being undermined by criminal activity.
“There is suspicion that perhaps there is a syndicate stealing and vandalising infrastructure. The premier has established a unit that deals with investigations of infrastructure vandalism and we are also beneficiaries of that work, as roads and transport, because we are mostly affected,” she said.
Despite the province’s assurances, the question remains whether these efforts will last beyond the G20 or whether residents will continue to face pothole-riddled roads once the world leaders have left.
TimesLIVE
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