Thanks to The Pothole Patrol, travellers from Gauteng will no longer have to navigate potholes when they travel to Sun City for holidays or to attend business events.

The initiative is a partnership between the City of Johannesburg, Discovery Insure and Dialdirect Insurance. In its first year alone, it repaired over 100 000 potholes in Johannesburg.

Now for the first time, the initiative has moved out of Johannesburg to repair the numerous potholes along the 75km stretch of the R556 leading to Sun City. Although the road is the shortest route to the resort, motorists have long expressed concern about the number of potholes they had to dodge to get there.

While reviewing the work done to date, Oagile Saliva Molapisi, the North West MEC for Public Works and Transport said: “Good roads attract business to an area. Gauteng is a very important market source for our province, but travellers want to know that they can reach their destination safely. Similarly, conference and event organisers are disinclined to plan workshops and conferences at venues with poor road infrastructure. The province is therefore extremely thankful for the work carried out.

“We appreciate the collaboration between the private sector and government. The government cannot do it alone,” concluded the MEC.

Brett Hoppé, Sun City GM, said: “Sun City is enormously popular but as much as people want to visit our resort, if there’s a chance their tyres or vehicles can be damaged by travelling here, then they will simply go elsewhere. So, we as Sun City are deeply grateful for the work that has been done, and we know it will ultimately translate into jobs and entrepreneurial opportunities for the entire region.”

Claims data collected by Discovery Insurance reveals a 26% reduction in pothole-related claims in Johannesburg in the first year of The Pothole Patrol. This is significant when compared with the 45% increase in claims across the rest of Gauteng for the same period.