The JCA Urges The City to Get a Handle on Reinstatements

Thousands of Unfinished Roadworks Leave Joburg Streets in Crisis

The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) is calling on the City of Johannesburg to urgently address the spiraling backlog of road and sidewalk reinstatements—works that are critical to the city’s safety, infrastructure integrity, and urban appearance.

The Joburg Crisis Alliance (JCA) is calling on the City of Johannesburg to urgently address the growing backlog of road and sidewalk reinstatements—works that are essential for safety and the city’s appearance.

After Joburg Water (JW) completes repairs that require digging up roads or pavements, the Joburg Roads Agency (JRA) is meant to restore the affected areas. While this split of responsibilities makes sense, the City has fallen behind. By the end of 2024, over 10,700 reinstatements were outstanding. The JCA is demanding transparency around how many JRA teams are dispatched daily and how many jobs they complete.

In 2023, JW said its 10 depots operated with around four teams each, but residents have often seen work done slowly or with little urgency. The backlog also poses safety risks—deep trenches have been left open for months in areas, with little to no warning signs remaining. In some cases, residents have tried to mark danger zones themselves, but the City prohibits them from making any road repairs.

JW reported completing over 15,200 reinstatements between July 2022 and March 2023. If accurate, this shows the City has the capacity—it simply needs to act. The JCA plans to raise this and other service delivery concerns at the upcoming Presidential Joburg Working Group meetings, urging the City to address the visible decline across Johannesburg.

Join the movement for a better Joburg.