Alex children fix potholes
For children, holiday are days to relax and get into a bit of mischief while waiting for schools to reopen.
For children, the holidays are days to relax and get into a bit of mischief while waiting for schools to re-open.
But not for some Alex children who took it upon themselves to show their elders and the local authority some good citizenship by fixing roads.
The badly potholed roads in Johannesburg have been in the spotlight lately following recent rains and a continuing state of disrepair.
Hopefully, these children’s good deeds will embarrass the authorities enough and push them to speed up the badly-needed repairs.
Simphiwe Mtshali (13) and friends, will return to school having played their part in improving smooth travel on his neighbourhood road.
These intrepid youngsters were found, on 3 April, filling potholes with soil on a section of Alfred Nzo Avenue in West Bank so that motorists don’t need to veer off the road, endangering themselves and their passengers.
They only asked for a R1 donation from motorists – who unfortunately seemed not to want to part with a measly coin as a contribution towards the children’s humanitarian effort. Asked why they bothered in their task, Simphiwe said, “It is for the good of society, and besides we are on break from school – and also we will get publicity.”
Meanwhile, potholes on Vincent Tshabalala Road between 5th and 6th avenues which were reported in this paper’s article ‘Potholes as big as bathtubs’ on 28 February, and again in ‘Potholes now as big as jacuzzis’ on 28 March, are still not fixed.
Road repair signs were erected two weeks ago but have since been pulled down and no work is being done. The Johannesburg Roads Agency has said about R1 billion has been allocated for the city’s upgrade of infrastructure and road repair programme resulting from flood damage.
This followed the Mayor’s announcement in October last year of a R2 billion budget for a face lift of city roads to alleviate traffic congestion, lower the cost of doing business, and attracting investment to commercial hubs. The announcement identified the MI, NI, Soweto highways and major arterial roads serving commercial hubs like Sandton and Rosebank as priorities.
Vincent Tshabalala is a major link for commercial and passenger traffic from the East Rand and OR Tambo Airport to Sandton and Johannesburg CBD.
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