Back-to-School Excitement Overshadowed by Traffic Woes in Benoni
By Cllr. Lornette Joseph: City of Ekurhuleni Ward 27 Councillor
Date: 16 January 2025
Release: Immediate
The arrival of the first day of school typically brings a sense of excitement and anticipation. However, for families in Benoni, this cherished day was compromised by frustrating traffic issues that resulted in parents and children waiting at non-functioning traffic lights for up to an hour.
Critical intersections, such as Brodigan and O’Reilly Merry, became bottlenecks, and frustration mounted as parents attempted to navigate their commutes amidst the chaos.
The core of the issue lies in the failure of local traffic infrastructure, and the ongoing neglect from both municipal and provincial authorities.
In Benoni, roads like Great North, Snake, and Pretoria are designated as Provincial roads, making the provincial government responsible for their maintenance.
Local councillors have repeatedly requested for the traffic lights on Great North and Snake Road to be repaired, even asking the Municipality to intervene, yet we have been met with the frustrating response of budget constraints.
Traffic signals in the local municipality also face significant funding shortages.
The City has identified that approximately R900,000.00 is required to address all traffic light issues in the Eastern Region.
However, only R274,000 was allocated in this year’s budget for these critical repairs.
While there is hope that an adjustment budget may secure additional funding, the backlog of reported issues is daunting.
The team in Benoni is currently working through calls logged as far back as November, while not being able to repair traffic lights that have been off even longer than that.
The situation escalates further as crucial traffic lights remain inoperative, and the requests for intervention, from the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department (EMPD) to provide traffic officers at key intersections, seems to fall on deaf ears.
However, EMPD has prioritized intersections leading to the freeway, such as N12 Tom Jones and N12 Bunyan, N12 Snake and along Snake Road from Dube, and with many officers on leave after working through December, this has left the department stretched thin.
This misallocation of resources has left municipal intersections poorly managed, leading to mounting frustration among residents; and instead of alleviating the pressure on municipal traffic areas, the EMPD’s limited resources are predominantly focused on Provincial Roads, with the demand for help at the municipal level left unmet.
In light of these issues, the Democratic Alliance (DA) demands that Gauteng Province take immediate action prioritizing road maintenance in Benoni, specifically targeting Snake Road and Great North, and that they make use of the Wardens to direct traffic at problematic intersections, allowing the EMPD to focus on municipal needs.
This situation highlights a systemic neglect of our traffic infrastructure, and it must not fall on the shoulders of parents and students who are simply trying to navigate their way back to school.
The community of Benoni face constant local infrastructure unreliability, with the Traffic Lights being the latest.
To ensure that families can enjoy this time rather than dread the commute, it is crucial for local and provincial authorities to collaborate and address the pressing traffic light issues.
Media Enquiries:
Cllr. Lornette Joseph
City of Ekurhuleni Ward 27 Councillor
083 847 4510
