R115 billion needed to fix crumbling roads in South Africa’s most important city

Ageing road infrastructure in the City of Johannesburg (CoJ) continues to deteriorate, with costly maintenance delays.

The Johannesburg City Council published its draft Integrated Development Plan (IDP) for the 2026/27 financial year on 31 March 2026.

Among the issues discussed was that of road-related infrastructure, with the Johannesburg Roads Agency (JRA) estimating its total maintenance backlog to be around R115 billion.

While more than half of this was designated for catchments, dams, and stormwater infrastructure, the reported maintenance backlog for actual road infrastructure was R37.7 billion.

Johannesburg’s road network comprises 13,599 km of surfaced and unsurfaced roads, with surfaced roads accounting for approximately 92%.

In its 2026/27 business plan, the JRA reported an increase in the number of surfaced roads marked as “poor” or “very poor”, from 27% to 32%.

At the same time, the agency said the number of “good” and “very good” quality surfaced roads had decreased from 52% to 45%.

Approximately 3,006 km of the CoJ’s surfaced road network is classified as “poor”, while 1,002 km is deemed to be in “very poor” condition. A further 2,881 km of road was classified as being in a “fair” condition.

The JRA said the required maintenance could cost as much as R15 million per kilometre, depending on the current condition and engineering requirements of the respective road.

On top of this, the JRA reported that another 23% of the city’s road network required resurfacing, and as much as 72% of it was in need of reshaping and re-gravelling.

“Roads classified in fair condition require preventative maintenance interventions such as resealing to preserve their structural integrity and prevent further deterioration,” the JRA said.

“If these interventions are delayed, the cost of maintenance increases significantly as roads transition into the poor and very poor categories, where more extensive rehabilitation or full reconstruction becomes necessary.”

A problem that will never be solved

The JRA’s staggeringly high maintenance backlog far exceeds its annual budget, raising concerns about when, or if, the required maintenance will ever be completed.

As per the city’s draft IDP for the 2026/27 financial year, the JRA was allocated a total budget of approximately R1.8 billion, of which R700 million was capital expenditure.

JRA CEO Zweli Nyathi appeared on 702 to discuss the challenges the agency faces in carrying out road maintenance, as well as the progress being made.

Nyathi explained that the CoJ was the sole funder of the JRA, and that this was no longer enough for the work that needed to be done.

“After realising a lot of shortfalls in terms of maintenance budgeting, we have escalated this issue to the national counterparts, the Treasury and the municipal infrastructure grant to look into Johannesburg,” Nyathi said.

“When we do competitive analysis between how we are funded, there is a huge difference. Basically, over the years, we have been defunded. But we are trying to correct that.”

When asked to describe the severity of the current road situation, Nyathi attempted to sideline the question and downplay the issue, stating only arterial roads were severely degraded and that no roads had to be closed.

While the JRA reported to the CoJ Council last month that a third of the road network was in poor condition, Nyathi said approximately 1,000 km of this had since been fixed.

He also said the JRA was in the process of completing a visual conditions assessment on the city’s road network to determine the true cost of maintenance, which could be even higher than the current estimate.

“The round figure that we put forward was R115 billion,” Nyathi said. “And that’s what we asked the national government to assist with.”

“But it might go beyond that, after the conditions assessment. We are in talks with our national government, because the money cannot just come from the City alone.”

When asked about the impact illegal mining underneath the city has on Johannesburg’s roads, Nyathi said the JRA was working with city law enforcement to deter this.