Councillors berated officials on Thursday over the 17th Avenue road extension on the William Moffett Expressway — completed more than a year ago — as it still lacks road markings, street lights and traffic signals.
This is while the municipality has spent just 7% of its roads and stormwater budget.
With the financial year almost halfway through, low capital expenditure across Nelson Mandela Bay’s directorates again came under scrutiny at a roads and transport standing committee meeting.
A report tabled by acting roads and transport executive director Barry Martin revealed that, from a R216m capital budget, the roads and stormwater sub-directorate had spent only R15.6m as of November 15.
Of the R7m allocated for traffic control equipment, just R135,220 had been used.
ACDP councillor Marianne Lotter said the lack of investment in stormwater infrastructure meant even moderate rains would further damage the city’s roads due to blocked drains.
“If you go down William Moffett Expressway, turning right towards Buffelsfontein Road and all the way to Cape Road, there are no lines,” Lotter said.
“The street lamps are off, which means people cannot see.
“This is one of the heaviest traffic strips in Nelson Mandela Bay.
“When we say that for roads and transport we’re only at 7%, it means your main carriers won’t be able to handle the pressure that’s coming with the holiday season.
“We are on 2% for traffic control equipment. Is that for the traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs?
“Because down William Moffett there is hardly a working sign, and we’re looking at a serious problem.”
The section of road between the William Moffett Expressway and Buffelsfontein Road was completed after months of delays and, on opening, drew criticism from motorists for poorly designed speed humps and pedestrian crossings.
Lotter also criticised the department for spending only 4% of the R14m budget for the construction of the R75.
“It is the most dangerous road in this metro — Commercial Road going right up to Despatch,“ she said.
“There are hardly any lights, there are no street markings, and the four-way stop at KwaMagxaki is no good. There are a lot of accidents there.”
While the R75 is managed by the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), traffic and street lights along the route fall under the municipality.
According to traffic department statistics, 166 accidents and 26 fatalities were recorded on the R75 between April 2024 and May 2025.
The report also showed that the directorate had spent only 9% of its R115m allocation from the informal settlements upgrading programme (ISUP) grant and 13% of the R47m urban settlements development grant (USDG).
It stated that delays were caused by the late approval of business plans for the grants, which were only signed off in August.
Martin said the city had set a target of 40% grant expenditure by the halfway point of the financial year.
“From an operational point of view, we understand that we would normally be around 25% at this time of year,” he said.
“In the context of the ISUP and USDG, the business plans are usually approved before the start of the financial year to allow directorates to issue orders against those grants.
“With the non-approvals, this caused delays.”
The Herald