Richard Luff, Bothasig
I am the bus driver for Bothasig Creche, and I am concerned about all the potholes that have recently appeared in the streets on my route to transport the aftercare children to school and back. The same applies to all other streets in this area. It was never like this before, and it is starting to look like Johannesburg.
Mayoral committee member for urban mobility Rob Quintas responds:
The wet or rainy season is a contributing factor to the majority of potholes that tend to develop.
This year, especially, we have had an extremely wet winter, and this is having a significant impact on our road network – not only with potholes forming, but due to the continuous rain, the top and bottom layers of the road do not get enough time to dry out for us to do permanent repairs. As such, permanent repairs will have to wait until the dry season. Until such time, our local road depots do their utmost best to attend to potholes and do temporary repairs.
By way of explanation, when it rains, water accumulates on the road, and the pressure exerted by vehicle tyres forces the water into the asphalt layer. This repeated action between the road surface and the tyres causes cracks to form. As water seeps through the cracks, it weakens the asphalt layers, leading to further cracking and eventually the formation of a pothole.
We encourage residents and road users to report potholes as soon as they notice them by either calling the City at 0800 656 463 or logging a service request on the City’s website. Residents can also download the City of Cape Town app and report potholes. Potholes that are reported to the City are addressed on an ongoing daily basis by the urban mobility directorate’s road infrastructure management department.