Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, has encouraged the public to report potholes on municipal and provincial roads on a newly-launched app (application) in order to enable government to repair them speedily.
Addressing the launch of Operation Vala Zonke, a comprehensive programme to address potholes across all spheres of government, Mbalula said the app can be downloaded on the Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
“The app will work in conjunction with the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) pothole management app and will allow the public to raise any issues, upload pictures of potholes and provide a real-time location of the road on an interactive map that will show the owners of the different roads. The app will also provide status updates on issues raised using a pothole ticketing system. The information then gets assigned to the relevant authority, depending on where the road is, and the maintenance depot responsible for that road attends to fixing the pothole,” said Mbalula.
As the implementing agency for this campaign, SANRAL will closely monitor and assess the impact of the interventions over the next six months, which is the duration of the campaign. A monitoring and evaluation capability has been put in place to enable SANRAL to generate audit reports which will form the basis for validation of the work undertaken and the turnaround time in attending to potholes.
“Through this intervention, we are raising the bar on service delivery by ensuring that the voice of the citizen is heard. This campaign will change the face of our municipal and provincial roads from pothole-riddled to an acceptable state of repair. This launch will be replicated across the country with premiers and MECs leading provincial launches,” said Mbalula.
SANRAL has vowed to co-ordinate the effort of working with the provinces and municipalities to ensure potholes are attended to speedily.
