The City of Windhoek calls for government and other stakeholders to help in maintaining roads.  

The City of Windhoek's Chief Engineer of Roads and Stormwater, Reinhard Boehmer, says the city alone cannot sustain the road networks due to funding constraints. 

He clarified that the city's 2023-2024 assessment valued the road network at N$15.4 billion.  

16% of the roads require service intervention while 18% are structurally in poor to very poor conditions.

"For the city of Windhoek to maintain our road network, we need roughly 385 million dollars on an annual basis. But having experienced the adverse weather condition in terms of the rain over the past two years, our roads are now in a more critical condition. We have recently appointed consultants who will do now a new study in terms of the condition of our health network, in terms of the asset value."

He emphasised that the potholes issue is a reactive measure to make roads usable; however, tests are done to ensure that they meet the minimum engineering standards. 

Boehmer urged the public to report potholes through city platforms and avoid activities such as car washes and swimming pools that contribute to road deterioration. 

He also stresses potholes are the symptoms of a larger issue, requiring preventive maintenance such as crack sealing and slurry seals to prevent water penetration and underlying layer erosion. 

The city implored the ministries of Urban and Rural  Development and Works and Transport as well as the Road Fund Administration for support to ensure that the city has a proper road network.