• Smooth ride

    Smooth ride

    In South Africa, government has launched a mobile app for citizens to report potholes on municipal or provincial roads.

    The state-owned South Africa National Roads Agency (Sanral) will co-ordinate efforts between provinces and municipalities to fix the potholes as part of a six-month campaign called Vala Zonke.

    Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula says the app will enable users to raise issues, upload images and receive status updates. It will also provide real-time location information, allowing Sanral to assign the task of filling the pothole to the relevant maintenance depot.

    A monitoring and evaluation function will enable Sanral to generate audit reports on turnaround time and workmanship.

    According to Mbalula, the ‘campaign will change the face of our municipal and provincial roads from pothole-riddled to an acceptable state of repair’.

    16 August 2022
    Image: Gallo/Getty Images