Durban - Community members and businesses across the country have stepped up to the plate to deliver services to residents and rebuild damaged and unmaintained infrastructure as the government continues to leave promises unfulfilled.
From fixing potholes to electrical repairs, building bridges and even providing water, South Africans have gone above and beyond to reclaim their country and restore functionality.
This comes in the wake of the floods in KwaZulu-Natal and as the state of roads across the country deteriorates.
Last week, community members from the Berea, Sydenham, Overport and Morningside areas marshalled their resources to repair potholes on the N3 westbound lane.
The initiative was broadcast via live video on Facebook by eThekwini Secure, operated by Zain Soosiwala, who is an active member of the community forum.
People were seen filling in potholes that had damaged the suspension and tyres of many drivers’ vehicles.
“Ever since we’ve gone out and I posted those videos about it, I’ve gotten a response from the municipality saying we saw your video, who are you guys and how can we assist,” Soosiwala said.
“There’s no cut-and-dried answer to the problems that we are facing in our communities. So for us, this is our fight as a community – we want to hold the municipality accountable for service delivery.
“Like we do with our policing forum, we work with the police in fighting crime, so we are trying to identify with the municipality that you cannot do service delivery in the city without mobilising members of the community,” he added.
In the Shallcross area, south of Durban, Marcus Richards, one of 21 organisers responsible for rebuilding the Blundell Road bridge between Queensburgh and Shallcross, said that the community was responsible for 95% of the project.
The bridge was destroyed in April during the first wave of floods.
“We did ask the city to provide us with repurposed tar, so they brought a few loads of that to our site. But whatever washed down the site, rubble, sand and dirt, we collected and started using fill and compact to make sure it was stable.
“It was 21 of us that did the actual work and four private security companies who stood by. That included the planning, logistics, hiring machinery, finding sponsors and we even got private engineers involved at our own cost.
“The city gave us the go-ahead to build the bridge and they provided some oversight, but the actual work itself was done by us,” Richards said.
Last week, KZN Premier Sihle Zikalala said the province had not received funds to fix the damage caused by the floods. This despite President Cyril Ramaphosa saying that KZN would receive R1 billion to repair the damage.
IOL also reported that 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 is a project between the City of Joburg, Discovery Insure and Dial-Direct Insurance.
An app was also launched in October to expedite the initiative.
Discovery Insure CEO Anton Ossip said there have been fewer pothole-related insurance claims in Johannesburg since the launch of the project.
“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,” he said.
According to data from the organisers, 155 potholes were reported from William Nicol Drive, 110 potholes were reported on Jan Smuts and 104 on Ontdekkers Road.
IOL