The eThekwini Municipality has paid out R441 696.75 in liability claims for 284 pothole claims for incidents between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024.
This was revealed after DA councillor Samantha Windvogel put questions to the municipality through a motion at a council meeting recently.
Meanwhile, residents of Upper Highway made light humour of potholes on Inanda Road near Crinkley Bottom by painting murals and designs around them.
Concerned resident Max Malunga said the main purpose was to make the public aware of these potholes on Inanda Road, which is very dangerous to motorists.
The Democratic Alliance Proportional Representative councillor Vincent Mkhize said an awareness campaign was held on Sunday alongside the road by residents. Mkhize said that since last year, residents were frustrated with the holes and decided to place their own warning signs requesting motorists to reduce speed in the vicinity.
“When motorists dodge a pothole, they put their lives at risk of a collision with an oncoming vehicle. Driving conditions were a concern,” he said.
In January 2025, the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport MEC of Transport Siboniso Duma visited Crinkley Bottom to monitor the roadworks taking place.
However, two months later, the potholes have reappeared. Duma said the potholes reappeared after the torrential rainfall recently.
“With prolonged rainfall as a result of a cut off low pressure system, road networks, and bridges across the province have been destroyed. Some of the projects that were still under construction when we experienced rainfall.
“The drainage and stormwater infrastructure has been overwhelmed as a result of more than 184 millimeters of rainfall. We are doing everything in our power to undertake repair, reassessing the scope to ensure that we mitigate the negative impact caused by climate change,” Duma said.
Windvogel said there were concerns surrounding potholes in the municipality with urgent attention being required.
“These road defects pose significant risks, including accidents, vehicle damage, and traffic disruptions, compromising the safety and convenience of our residents and commuters,” she said.
According to responses from the municipality to Windvogel, the turnaround time for pothole repairs are 10 days depending on the severity of the pothole. The municipality stated that “make safe” measures are also in place to ensure safety measures are adhered to.
The municipality has recently appointed six contractors per region to augment internal capacity so as to deal with the backlog. This is in addition to the 26 teams currently working from different regions.
Addressing Windvogel’s concern about workmanship, the municipality stated that there are quality control measures such as compaction and density tests. To address the previous shortfall of asphalt, the municipality stated that it appointed three service providers to deliver asphalt to municipal teams.
The eThekwini Engineering unit stated: “They are working on a rotational basis in different regions. The reason for multiple service providers is that when one has got a problem, the other can come in and that ensures that there is no disturbance in the operation. The main challenge, however, these days is the current persistent rainfalls which does not give us an opportunity to go all out and fix potholes. We are also using this time to clean up our stormwater systems.”
With regard to Windvogel’s concern about asphalt theft and mismanagement, the municipality stated that four cases have been reported for asphalt theft and private jobs.
“Those staff members are undergoing disciplinary processes. They were also charged criminally. As the department, we will also be doing a roadshow to raise awareness among our employees,” the unit stated.