The pothole joke

South African roads are not in the best of repair. They used to be, but very sadly, maintenance has become a very rare thing. Of course, finances are always the biggest excuse used by those incompetent leaders, as to why they cannot keep the infrastructure in decent shape. This not only goes for roads, but for everything run by the government of it's pathetic offshoots. It costs a lot of tax money to finance the glorious life style our leaders feel they are entitled to.

Back to roads...South African roads are in falling apart. Some roads have more potholes than tar. As I mentioned, the lousy, but real excuse is that there is no budget for roads, as it has all been squandered on more enjoyable things. Road or any other maintenance, is very neglected. .

Taking responsibly in a project that will cost them R1 million a month, Dial Direct step in and offer to repair the pot holes for the Johannesburg council. Not only were 50 000 potholes repaired but people were employed and trained.
Now, let's get this point clear- Dial Direct paid for the repairs from their coffers...Jo'burg Road Agency (JRA)did not.

The stipulated time period ended in October last year, but in conjunction with other municipalities, they continued to fix potholes round Pretoria and Johannesburg, pending a decision whether they could continue with the JRA agreement.

And then the decision came- SURPRISE- the brilliant, incompetent JRA declined to continue the arrangement.
The reasons sites are that the City of Johannesburg's service providers complained that this project didn't comply with the stipulations as set out in the Municipal Financial Management Act.
and here is the kicker...they have to formalise the procedure by putting it through a tender process. JRA spokesman, Thulani Makhubela says, ' There are certain procurement processes to be followed before we acquire services of a certain nature.'
He further went on and made a joke, saying if there are any pothole problems, the JRA will deal with it. Ironic words after they could not deal with in the past.

This is also a terrible thing, as those who have been trained, will sit without work. a And our government try to fool us they are trying to create jobs.
This blows the mind. The facts are, because the JRA could not do what they are supposed to do, a private company step up and not only finances the project, but trains staff to do so. They show their long term commitment. So it seems rather strange that the Johannesburg municipality would cancel a project that is costing them nothing and put more people on the unemployment train.

Then, we look deeper and we see they want to put it out to tender. You will see, a private company, with directors linked to the government will surprisingly win the tender process, whether they are equipped for the task of not. It would not be surprising if they charge the JRA for the job of fixing holes. This is how South Africa works. Why allow a willing company to fix the roads from their own pockets, saving the ratepayer millions, when you can go one better and get a friend's company to do it for a massive fee and screw the rate payer out of millions. And in the process, get a healthy kickback.