Staff Reporter
The Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) says it repaired 97,938 potholes across the city in the 2025/26 financial year at an average cost of R371.43 each, rejecting claims that the city spends as much as R65,000 to fix a pothole.
The city-owned entity said it spent R36,377,478.14 on pothole repairs in the current financial year, and that figures cited in a Daily Maverick article published on 7 June did not reflect its operational data.
The article quoted Business Leadership South Africa CEO Busi Mavuso as saying business could fix a pothole for R7,500 while the City of Johannesburg spent R65,000.
JRA said those figures created a misleading impression about the cost and efficiency of pothole repairs.
“For the current financial year (2025/26), the JRA has repaired 97,938 potholes city-wide at a total cost of R36,377,478.14. This equates to an average repair cost of R371.43 per pothole,” the agency said.
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 says it repaired 97,938 potholes across the city in the 2025/26 financial year at an average cost of R371.43 each, rejecting claims that the city spends as much as R65,000 to fix a pothole.){kind=link}