With the G20 summit in Johannesburg drawing closer, Gauteng’s provincial government and the City of Joburg are under increasing pressure to fix the metro’s pothole-riddled streets and traffic lights.
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) signed an agreement with the provincial department of roads and logistics in February “to rebuild, upgrade and maintain traffic signals on various intersections managed by the Gauteng province” ahead of the summit on November 22-23.
“The JRA manages 2,023 signalised intersections and will be taking on the additional 275 signalised intersections managed by Gauteng province ... to reduce traffic congestion and enhance road safety by ensuring the consistent functionality of traffic signals,” the JRA said at the time.
“Given resource constraints, the JRA will initially prioritise upgrades and maintenance at traffic signals located on key economic and major routes.
“Priority roads include Winnie Mandela Drive, Beyers Naudé Drive, Allandale Road, Malibongwe Drive, Grayston Drive, Witkoppen Road, Golden Highway, Kliprivier Drive, Hendrik Potgieter Drive, Ontdekkers Road, Heidelberg Road, Soweto Highway, and Chris Hani Road.”
Bertha Peters-Scheepers, the JRA’s senior official for marketing and communications, said they would respond on Thursday morning.
Broken and vandalised traffic lights and poor road infrastructure across Gauteng has become a political issue, with opposition parties demanding greater transparency in budgetary processes and more information on dealing with the crisis.
Joburg mayor Dada Morero recently said fixing potholes across the metro could cost about R700m, while the JRA had previously said R70m was needed to fix damaged and vandalised traffic lights.
This week the DA in Gauteng urged roads and logistics MEC Kedibone Diale-Tlabela to reallocate departmental funds to repair the province’s traffic lights, an ambitious project that would cost about R176m.
DA roads and logistics spokesperson Evert du Plessis said just 77 of 196 traffic lights in the province would be fixed owing to a lack of funds, even though the provincial government allocated an additional R80m.
“This means while less than 40% of traffic lights get repaired ... putting the lives of our residents ... at risk, as they will be exposed not only to more accidents but become prone to acts of crime such as hijacking and muggings,” Du Plessis said.
In March, Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile allocated R9.7bn to the roads and transport department for 2025/26, which increases to R28bn over the medium-term expenditure framework.
“While the MEC is engaging Treasury to source extra funding for fixing traffic lights, we ... also suggest the MEC consider a public-private partnership to assist with the repair and maintenance of traffic lights,” Du Plessis said.
In provincial legislature documents that Business Day has seen, Diale-Tlabela states that “based on available budget, the department will fix about 77 traffic signals this financial year 2025/26. The remaining traffic signals will be fixed subject to availability of funds”.
“The department through the CSIR [Council for Scientific and Industrial Research], has developed alternative technology for the protection and functionality of traffic signals,” she said.
“The technology includes underground chambers and electronic strips on the controllers. To supplement the technology, the department is working with law enforcement for monitoring of hotspots.”
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