Oakdale, De La Haye and Labiance residents want the City to fix pothole-plagued roads the blame for thousands of rand in damages to their cars.
Keashia Booysen says potholes in De La Haye’s Skakel Road caused about R16 000 of damage to her Volkswagen Polo.
“Earlier this year, around February or March, my husband and I drove down Skakel Road, and we hit the pothole which caused the rim to crack. When my husband took the car away for repairs, we were told that our tyres were damaged, and we had to replace at least two of them.
We felt this was strange because the tyres were relatively new, so we then asked around by our neighbours, and they all said that they had similar problems with their tyres as a result of driving over the potholes in the area.”
The damage to Ms Booysen’s car was worse on the front driver’s wheel, which cost between R7 000 to R8 000 to fix, along with the purchase of a new tyre. However as a result of wear and tear – which the Booysens attribute to the poor condition of their neighbourhood’s roads – she also had to buy a new back tyre for the same price.
Ms Booysen said it could be difficult at times to avoid the two deep potholed on Skakel Road.
“There are some nights, like the one we had a few months ago, when you cannot see the potholes and then you only know when feel the bump. It is worse when the road is busy because sometimes cars stop so that the other can pass. There is also a garage nearby so that adds to the traffic in the road. These potholes have been here for a while now, and it just seems like they keep getting bigger.” Â
Ms Booysen said she had noticed that several other roads such as Kingsmead Avenue and Van der Stel Road had also deteriorated.Â
“It seems like you cannot drive anywhere close by without seeing cracks or holes in the road. It is really an eyesore and something should be done about it.”
In Labiance, a number of parents have complained about potholes in Labiance Street while picking up their children from Labiance Primary. And residents in Labiance Street say they have also had similar issues as Ms Booysen.
However, none of them wanted their names published out of fear they would be criticised by others in the community for making the neighbourhood look bad.
Last month, the City launched a pothole-repair programme, and Mayor Dan Plato visited Table View and Atlantis to repairs roads.
Mr Plato said:”City road-repair teams will be carrying out repairs and also be undertaking general maintenance across the city to ensure that the roads that residents make use of everyday are in good condition to drive on and cycle on. Our officials will continue to work hard to ensure our roads are maintained to a high standard.”
Mercia Kleinsmith, Sub-Council 6 chairperson, said the City had earmarked pothole repairs for Robert Sobukwe Road but she couldn’t say whether the campaign extended to smaller roads.
“The City cannot say if the smaller residential roads will also be fixed at this moment in time as there is no set schedule. We are, though, aware of the damages to the roads and will be looking into ways to fix these problems.  Â