Potholes top South Africa’s infrastructure complaints as CityMender records 4,860 reports

 Potholes top South Africa’s infrastructure complaints as CityMender records 4,860 reports

Story by Nivashni Nair lol The Mercury :

Potholes and deteriorating roads continue to dominate service delivery complaints across South Africa, according to new data from CityMender, a community reporting platform that allows residents to log and track infrastructure faults.

The platform has recorded more than 4,860 service delivery and infrastructure complaints since the start of the year, with road-related defects emerging as the country's most frequently reported problem.

Water leaks and water infrastructure faults ranked second, followed by electricity outages and streetlight failures.

CityMender founder Keyuren Maharaj said the findings highlight the issues residents encounter most often in their daily lives.

“Potholes and road-related defects remain the largest category on the platform. Road infrastructure directly affects safety, mobility, vehicle damage and economic activity, making it one of the most visible service delivery concerns for residents across South Africa,” he said.

Maharaj, a mechanical engineering student at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, launched the platform last year after becoming frustrated with the difficulty of reporting municipal infrastructure problems.

Since then, the app has expanded rapidly and now operates across municipalities nationwide. It is also preparing for its first international rollout in Namibia.

According to CityMender, approximately 2,400 of the nearly 4,860 reports submitted this year have already been resolved or marked as fixed.

“This represents a resolution rate of approximately 50%, which is encouraging considering reports span more than 30 municipalities across South Africa and cover a wide range of infrastructure categories,” Maharaj said.

He added that the figure continues to improve as municipalities engage with the platform and residents confirm completed repairs.

Response times vary significantly depending on the municipality and the nature of the fault.

Maharaj said electricity-related reports in Durban and Cape Town often receive reference numbers or acknowledgements within 24 hours, while some outages are resolved within six to 36 hours.

“Residents consistently tell us that communication and updates are just as important as the repair itself. One of CityMender's primary goals has always been to improve transparency and close the communication gap between residents and service providers,” he said.

KwaZulu-Natal remains one of the platform's strongest regions, particularly within eThekwini, where CityMender first gained traction. Cape Town continues to show steady usage, while Nelson Mandela Bay has experienced notable growth in recent weeks.

The company is now focusing on expanding its footprint in Gauteng.

“We are currently focused on expanding awareness and adoption in Gauteng, which represents one of the platform's largest growth opportunities. Because CityMender supports every municipality in South Africa, we are increasingly seeing reports being submitted from a broader range of municipalities nationwide,” Maharaj said.

Beyond tracking complaints, the platform has begun analysing links between severe weather events and infrastructure failures.

Maharaj said recent weather-related incidents in Cape Town demonstrated how flooding and blocked stormwater systems often coincide with infrastructure complaints logged by residents.

“These findings are helping to shape what we believe will become South Africa's first independent predictive infrastructure intelligence model, using real-world service delivery data collected directly from communities,” he said.

One example involved a major water leak in Durban that reportedly continued for almost a month before being repaired.

Using the platform's AI-powered analytical tools, CityMender estimated that nearly 290,000 litres of water may have been lost during that period.

“While the repair itself took time, the issue remained visible, tracked and regularly escalated through the platform until it was resolved. Without ongoing reporting and follow-up, the leak could potentially have remained active for much longer,” Maharaj said.

The platform officially expanded into Namibia on June 1 through a partnership with Namibian technology company Future Tech Computers.

Reflecting on the platform's growth, Maharaj said each report submitted by residents was helping build a clearer picture of the challenges facing public infrastructure.

“When we launched CityMender in South Africa, the goal was simple: make it easier for people to report infrastructure problems and track what happens next. What we didn't realise at the time was that every report was also creating valuable infrastructure data.”

“Today, nearly 5,000 reports later, we're beginning to understand patterns that simply weren't visible before.”

He said better infrastructure management would be critical to Africa's future development.

“Africa's future will depend heavily on how well we maintain, manage and invest in infrastructure. If CityMender can play even a small role in helping communities better understand those challenges and opportunities, then we believe the impact could extend far beyond a single municipality or even a single country.”

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