35 years of poor road maintenance

For 35 years, Windhoek has had inadequate road maintenance, resulting in ageing road infrastructure.

This negligence was exposed during the rainy seasons of 2024 and 2025, with the damaged roads valued at N$353 million.

This was disclosed by City of Windhoek strategic executive for infrastructure and roads maintenance Rowan Adams at a media engagement last Friday.

“For all those years we haven’t done proper road maintenance in the city, only surface-based and in our study conducted, for us to address potholes, we need proper road maintenance which will cost N$384 million yearly and in terms of proper maintenance, we are looking at about N$1 billion,” Adams said.

Adams said since last February, 67 344 potholes have been fixed and 54 000 square metres of roads damaged by rain, pipe bursts and trenching have been repaired.

The city has invested N$64.36 million for the routine repairs to date.

Adams warned that those who use sand to close potholes are damaging the road, as it requires the city to carry out rehabilitation before repairs, a costly process, he added.

City chief executive Moses Matyayi says it would be easier if it were the responsibility of the Roads Fund Administration (RFA), which funds road maintenance for national roads, or if the city received funds from the RFA dedicated to fixing roads.

“Unfortunately, getting funds from RFA is always a fight and, in most cases, it’s never enough and the city annually budgets N$5 billion to deliver services. This is why we need residents to honour their obligations and pay their municipal bills,” he says.

Most of the city’s budget goes to a staff complement of about 2 900, water supply by the Namibia Water Corporation and services, levies, rates and taxes.

Matyayi adds that 32% of water pipes are old and need repair, which is another cost.

RFA chief executive Ali Ipinge last November said Namibia faces a substantial funding gap in maintaining and rehabilitating its road network, with total funding exceeding N$8.5 billion for the next financial year.

The RFA is reported to generate about N$4.2 billion in the current financial year, through road user charges, while the government is projected to contribute between N$1.3 billion and N$1.5 billion under the medium-term expenditure framework.

If no new financing mechanisms are introduced, Ipinge warned that Namibia’s road infrastructure could deteriorate faster than it can be maintained, particularly given the impact of heavy rains.

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