Anchor Point | We didn't vote to adopt potholes | 2 April 2026

A pothole outside your property should be an inconvenience. It should not become a second job. In this episode of Anchor Point, Jenna-Leigh Bilong starts with one broken stretch of road and opens up a much larger conversation about service delivery in Johannesburg and across South Africa. She describes the absurdity of feeling like she now “owns” a pothole because it takes up so much time, emotional energy, and follow-up. But the episode does not stay in anecdote for long. It moves into the danger that neglected infrastructure poses to drivers and schoolchildren, the quiet humiliation of having to email officials week after week for basic action, and the bigger truth that many residents are living with: ordinary people are increasingly being forced to manage failures they already pay taxes and rates to have fixed. This is a sharp, relatable, and politically pointed episode about broken municipal systems, public frustration, and the creeping burden of becoming the state’s unpaid compliance officer. It asks what service delivery is meant to be, why it keeps failing, and what voters should be thinking about as local government accountability comes back into focus.