Pretoria North’s ward 2 councillor, Quentin Meyer, has justified his protest of planting trees in a pothole-ridden road, saying it is a stand against the City of Tshwane's poor service delivery, which he believes has left the area neglected.
He was responding to criticism from the Section 79 Committee for Roads and Transport, which accused him of flouting Tshwane's by-laws by planting trees on a public road without the council's prior written permission.
“This restriction is outlined in the Public Road and Miscellaneous by-law, 2004, which states that ‘no individual may plant any tree, shrub, or plant on a public road, sidewalk, footway, or road reserve if it obstructs or interferes with pedestrian traffic, unless authorised,’” the committee said.
Meyer said he mobilised community members to protest after repeated complaints about the area's potholed roads fell on deaf ears.
He said he had reported the issue to Tshwane Mayor Nasiphi Moya and also emailed the relevant city officials months prior to the protest.
“So what do you do if they don’t reply? People toyitoyi. People protest. And that is what we are doing,” he said.
He pointed out two vehicles damaged their tyres due to a 1,5-metre pothole within a span of just two minutes on Thursday night.
"Imagine how many vehicles would be damaged in an hour?" he said.
He said residents are angry about the potholes and the financial burden of repairing damage caused.
He warned of massive and extremely dangerous potholes on the Paul Kruger extension, particularly when coming off the President Steyn Bridge towards Onderstepoort.
He further explained that the intention behind planting trees in the road was not to cause obstruction but to make a statement, urging the authorities to fix the potholes and prevent further damage to vehicles.
“Ward 2 is also part of the City of Tshwane and it deserves to receive services because we are also paying taxes. It doesn’t matter which colour we are; whether we are black, pink, or orange, it doesn’t matter. We are all paying taxes and we are asking them to fix potholes. We are tired of begging them to fix potholes,” he said.
Chairperson for Section 79 Roads and Transport committee, Ngoako Seanego, said the committee is aware that Meyer has written a letter addressed to Moya to raise concerns about the state of the roads in his ward.
“Instead of waiting for a response from the executive mayor, the councillor decided to act in this manner,” he said.
He condemned the planting of trees in the City roads, along with the committee, over social media posts that surfaced during their April 8, 2025, meeting.
He said: “The social media posts were that of the City of Tshwane councillor for ward 2, leading community members in planting the trees in the middle of the road as a form of protest.”
He expressed his disappointment over the actions, saying they constituted vandalism.
“We are aware of the damages done to our roads by the recent heavy rains and as the city we are doing our utmost best with available resources to address both the backlog and recently damaged road infrastructure in all seven regions of the city,” Seanego said.