‘Through these visits, we are demonstrating our commitment to returning to optimal levels of service delivery for the benefit of all residents. Much progress has been made in eradicating the backlog of pothole repairs, brought on by the rainy season and capacity restrictions as a result of the national lockdown. The city developed a strategy with its roads teams and contracted the services of external service providers to expand our service reach.

‘As Alert Level 1 has eased restrictions, we have also once again seen an increase in litter. The clean-up campaign is intended to remind all that we are working hard to maintain clean communities, but we need the support of residents to keep neighbourhoods neat and tidy,’ said Executive Mayor Dan Plato.

Since June, more than 10 000 potholes have been fixed. This is an indication of how we have ramped up capacity following the impact of the rainy season and the national lockdown on the reach of repair and maintenance work.

City-wide, the City’s Roads Department has repaired:

• 2 776 potholes during the five-month period January 2020 until the end of May 2020
• 10 186 potholes during the five-month period 1 June 2020 until the end of October 2020

‘The recovery plans will be implemented up until April 2021, pending unforeseen delays and inclement weather. I want to appeal to residents to please work with us and not use the underground service networks, such as sewers, for what it is not intended for. Our officials often find objects that have been dumped into the sewer network. These cause blockages and the sewage then flows onto the road and causes major damage to our road infrastructure,’ said Alderman Felicity Purchase, the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Transport.

‘Residents in some areas often drive or park on the sidewalks, or the verges. This prevents water from flowing into the stormwater inlets that are on the side of the road and which are installed to let water off the road as quickly as possible. This could ultimately result in them and their community not having a road to drive on as water is one of the biggest causes of road failures,’ said Alderman Purchase.

Residents can report potholes to the Transport Information Centre on 080 065 6463. This is a 24/7 information centre and is toll-free from a landline or a cell phone. Alternatively, a mail can be sent to Transport.Info@capetown.gov.za. You can also contact our Customer Call Centre on 0860 103 089.

‘During the first stages of the national lockdown period, where movement was severely limited, our Cleansing branch noted a significant drop in every type of litter that the teams normally clean up, to the extent that the City was even able to reduce the number of staff on duty. However, as lockdown restrictions eased and people began to move around more freely again, the same amount of litter returned. This clearly illustrates how much of an influence human behaviour has on our environment. The City will continue working to keep areas clean, but ultimately the power is in the hands of residents, who could see big changes in the environment following small changes in habits,’ said Alderman Xanthea Limberg, Mayoral Committee Member for Water & Waste.

Illegal dumping is harmful and against the law. Vehicles used in illegal dumping can be confiscated and a release fee of more than R17 000 will be charged, over and above the fines issued for dumping. To report illegal dumping, please call 0860 103 089.

We call on our residents to come out and support the campaign. #KeepCapeTownClean!

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