Money wasted on renaming William Nicol Drive instead of maintaining the road

20 October 2023

Winnie Mandela Drive, formerly known as William Nicol Drive, is in terrible condition, riddled with potholes and no proper road markings, putting the safety of motorists and passengers at risk.

The money spent renaming this road should have been used for maintenance.

Yesterday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) conducted an oversight inspection at Winnie Mandela Drive to assess the state of the road. We witnessed several vehicles making illegal turns on this road because there are no barriers to prevent this from happening.

Potholes cause damage to vehicles and puts the well-being of road users at risk.

It is alleged that the City of Joburg spent around R250 000 on the renaming of this road and only fixed a portion of it. The community was against the City of Joburg and the Provincial Government's decision to rename the road.

In addition, the road verges have become a site for illegal dumping, while taxis have used the space as a holding area.

Failure to maintain roads lead to motorists suffering damages to their vehicles and claiming from their insurance or the City of Joburg. Where a claim is lodged against the City of Joburg, money meant for road maintenance will be used to pay for the claim.

The DA will table questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) to determine how much money has been allocated for the maintenance of this road and whether there are plans in place to provide the taxis in the area with a permanent holding area.

Issued by Evert Du Plessis, DA Gauteng Spokesperson for Roads and Logistics, 20 October 2023