The Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality does not have all the necessary equipment to fix the numerous potholes in the metro.
This was confirmed in a letter by the Nelson Mandela Bay metro’s executive director for infrastructure and engineering, Walter Shaidi, in response to ACDP councillor, Lance Grootboom’s letter regarding potholes all over Nelson Mandela Bay.
Shaidi also said that only R2,4 million of the R11,55 million operating budget for stormwater and potholes for the 2020/21 financial year had been spent to date.
In a video posted on the “Rebuilding Nelson Mandela Bay” Facebook page, Grootboom shared pictures of potholes in areas such as Booysen Park, William Slammert Drive in Bethelsdorp and Stanford Road close to Jacksonville.
“When you travel across our metro and look at the state of our roads, it is a disgrace,” Grootboom said in the video.
“We have a number of potholes that have not been fixed for months. Residents’ complaints about potholes have not been addressed and this is unacceptable,” he added.
Grootboom subsequently sent a letter to the NMBM, outlining the problem and seeking clarity on why potholes were not being repaired.
He also mentioned that he had noticed residents in William Moffett fixing the potholes themselves.
“I want to applaud these residents for a job well done and while this is a noble task that they have undertaken, they are hardworking taxpayers who should not be responsible for this.
“As a metro, we should ensure that potholes are filled and our roads in a good state,” Grootboom wrote.
According to Shaidi, the trucks and equipment were old and spent most of the time in the workshop, but the department had placed funds in the capital budget to purchase 10 rollers.
He also said that the teams responsible for fixing the potholes were not at full capacity, due to vacancies.
“There are currently five depots, with two teams at four of the depots and one team at the Despatch depot. We require five teams per depot to function properly,” Shaidi said.
When asked whether the contract to fill potholes was still in place, Shaidi confirmed that it was, but further explained that a legal opinion was currently being sought, due to a query by Budget and Treasury.
He also added that the contract was only set to expire in January 2022.
In addition to its 24 emerging contractors, the metro would appoint 36 more to deal with the issue.
According to Shaidi, another problem regarding the fixing of potholes was that the complaints were not centralised.
“Potholes are of an ad hoc nature and thus a moving target, so complaints come in daily.
“We rely on the job cards to keep track, but since complaints are not centralised, many are not being reported to the call centre.
“The public and councillors must be educated to use the call centre, as it will lead to structured implementation,” he explained.
Grootboom made a few suggestions to help resolve some of these issues that include an urgent revamp of the system to allow for the centralisation of complaints and a workshop to educate councillors on how to use the complaint reporting system.
“One wonders how many complaints slip through the cracks because of the lack of centralisation.
“It will allow the NMBM to consolidate, track, monitor and follow up on all complaints easily and quickly.”
Grootboom said that he was not sure whether a motivation could be made for these jobs to be listed as critical vacancies, but proposed that at least the Despatch vacancies be added to the critical vacancies list, in order for them to have a second team.
He also suggested that Shaidi write to the chief financial officer, to ensure that an adequate budget was made available over the next two financial years, to provide for the filling of all vacancies and to ensure that all necessary equipment was procured.
- Readers can contact the NMBM service delivery call centre on 0800 205 050.
Metro launched War on Potholes Project
After going to print on Monday, the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality Portfolio Head for Roads and Transport, Councillor Rosie Daaminds launched a R11.5million project on Tuesday, 29 September that will see all potholes fixed across the City.
Speaking during the launch in Zwide on Tuesday, Daaminds said: “We are today declaring a war on potholes, there were complaints when the lockdown started about potholes and we felt bad even though we knew that plans were in place to deal with the problem. We have started with the work and we are looking at finishing the work between two and three months. Once that is done, regular maintenance will take place.
“We are using two contractors and 23 small contractors doing this work. We are already busy in Ward 12, we will do Ward 32, contractors are in Ward 38, 44, in Uitenhage and Motherwell. All over there are contractors because we listen when our residents are talking. During the higher levels of lockdown, we could not do much work but we noticed the frustration of motorists.”
Daaminds said the budget would be increased to R15million soon to ensure adequate roads maintenance across the City, while also working closely with the City’s Infrastructure and Engineering department that has hired companies to aggressively deal with water leaks that often contribute to potholes.
Ward 27 Councillor Zoliswa Dlula said she was pleased to see the project launched in her ward as Maya Street was the worst affected street in her ward. “Motorists will drive easily now and will not suffer any financial burden because of potholes,” she said.
Daaminds said the city would not only focus on fixing potholes but storm water drains would also be attended to, to make sure the water flows as summer rains were expected soon.
