The Johannesburg Roads Agency estimated that the city has between 48,000 to 90,000 potholes in need of repair.
Johannesburg, South Africa (30 April 2021) – Dialdirect Insurance and Discovery Insure today announced the launch of the Pothole Patrol, a partnership with the City of Joburg to manage the repair of potholes throughout the city, in a unique data-driven initiative designed to make roads safer for all residents.
In November last year, the Johannesburg Roads Agency estimated that the city has between 48,000 to 90,000 potholes in need of repair.
The Pothole Patrol initiative will tackle this problem head-on.
Joburg Mayor Geoff Makhubo launching the Pothole Patrol in Lenasia, south of Johannesburg, said, “We have no doubt that this joint initiative with private sector support is the boost we need to fix road infrastructure in the city. We are confident that the launch of this initiative is a game-changer in resolving the scourge of potholes on our roads.”
Head of Dialdirect Insurance, Anneli Retief, said: “After 10 years, we’re back and once again, are ready to help solve the backlog of potholes and help motorists drive right.”
In line with Discovery’s core purpose of enhancing and protecting lives, Discovery Insure Chief Executive Officer Anton Ossip said, “We’re proud to support the Joburg Roads Agency with this important initiative that we have no doubt will make our roads safer for everyone.”
Discovery Insure and Dialdirect Insurance create value for broader society!
This initiative will reduce the frequency and severity of road accidents across the city for insured and uninsured drivers. The insurers seek to align with international road safety standards. This initiative supports the United Nations Road-Safety strategy titled ‘A Partnership for Safer Journeys’ established in 2019.
“Since the launch of Discovery Insure 10 years ago, we’ve endeavoured to push the limits and do things differently: we wanted to make people safer; we wanted to be more proactive about risk rather than reactive; we wanted to share value with the broader society, as part of our ambition to impact the lives of our clients and broader society,” says Ossip.
“The Pothole Patrols will begin on Monday, 3 May 2021, and will prioritise roads that are more frequently used, impacting more users and thereby causing more damage. Simultaneously a smartphone app is being developed to allow residents of the City to log pothole locations which will be prioritised for repair,” added Retief.
“It is important to note that due to the vast expanse of the City’s road infrastructure and the backlog created over time through various reasons including an increase in road traffic and worsening weather conditions, it may take time for a logged pothole to be repaired,” added Executive Mayor Makhubo.
In addition, Dialdirect Insurance and Discovery Insure will make available to the programme their significant data about road conditions, which is collected through telematics data that measures how vehicles are driven and can infer the condition of the road as a result.
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