Crisis on Main Reef Road – AfriForum demands intervention

The condition of Main Reef Road, which runs between Benoni and Brakpan, has now reached a crisis point where businesses, motorists and residents are suffering. AfriForum is now demanding that the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality as well as the Gauteng Department of Public Transport and Road Infrastructure fulfil their responsibility and restore this road to a usable condition.

AfriForum requests in a letter that work be done on the sewage flow; the coordination of repairs to the sewage network and stormwater drains; the repair of potholes; and the removal of illegal electricity cables that pose dangers to the community.

The road is almost unusable in places due to sewage flowing into the street and causing potholes. Many road users are forced to take a dangerous detour past Plastic City to avoid this stretch of road. This leaves many businesses such as Rock Raceway, Caltex Anzac and others with their hands in their hair because potential customers cannot reach them.

In addition to the negative economic impact currently being experienced due to this road, it also poses significant health and safety risks to residents. The detour past Plastic City and the Weltevreden landfill site is a known high-crime area where there have also been shooting incidents. It should already be a warning to the Ekurhuleni Metro and relevant departments that road users are even willing to drive through a high-risk area rather than brave the Main Reef Road.

According to Nadia Olckers, AfriForum’s district coordinator for the East Rand, this problem has been going on since 2020 and it appears that the metro is not even one inch closer to a solution. This is despite funds budgeted for the improvement of this road.

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