Nelson Mandela Bay fills 5,944 potholes as R61m road budget kicks in
The metro's Fill Up the Bay campaign has cleared 5,944 potholes since August, with R30 million ring-fenced for accelerated repairs and 400 EPWP workers clearing drains.
Nelson Mandela Bay has repaired 5,944 potholes since the launch of its “Fill Up the Bay” campaign in August 2026, the municipality says, as the metro tries to clear a road repair backlog and restore surfaces damaged by flooding and years of deferred maintenance.
The campaign was launched by Executive Mayor Babalwa Lobishe in the Perseverance Industrial Area and has since expanded to areas including Veeplaas and Ward 30. The municipality has allocated R61 million to road maintenance, of which R30 million is ring-fenced for accelerated pothole repairs.
Lobishe said wet weather remains the biggest brake on the programme. Persistent rainfall affects both the pace and the quality of the work, and contractors have had to suspend operations in several areas to let surfaces dry. Heavy downpours have also damaged some newly laid asphalt.
“Encouraging progress is being made, and contractors are active in almost every cluster of the metro,” she said. “This work is about more than just patching holes. It is about elevating our road infrastructure to align with our economic growth strategy. A dependable road network is the absolute backbone of a thriving local economy.”
She credited ongoing oversight by the Member of the Mayoral Committee for Roads and Transport, Yolisa Pali-Jongilanga, for the campaign’s progress.
The municipality says the programme is not limited to the road surface. Crews are also addressing broken and collapsed stormwater drains and blocked drainage systems that contribute to road flooding, which Lobishe described as a root cause of the damage being repaired.
“Fixing potholes without concurrently addressing stormwater drainage and canals would be an exercise in futility,” she said. “A major root cause of our road damage is stormwater running across the tarmac instead of being channelled through functional drains and canals.”
The campaign incorporates the Expanded Public Works Programme. Over the past three months, 400 EPWP participants have worked alongside municipal teams, clearing 4,700 stormwater drains, removing debris from 3.4 kilometres of stormwater canals and completing one kilometre of jet-vac cleaning.
Contractors on the programme are required to employ at least three local community members in every ward where work is undertaken.
This report is based on the South African Government News Agency’s account of the campaign. The source document is a summary of the municipality’s figures and the mayor’s remarks rather than the underlying contracts, tender records or repair schedules, so the per-ward spending breakdown and the remaining size of the pothole backlog are not stated in it.
Source: SAnews (South African Government News Agency), https://www.sanews.gov.za/south-africa/nelson-mandela-bay-repairs-nearly-6-000-potholes
