iMbobo APp is a pothole reporting and road safety tool.

Its mission is to ensure that our roadways stay even and clear surfaces free of potholes in order to allow a smooth and seamless transition into the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) self driving cars technology, whilst helping make the road networks safe and efficient for all users.

Roadways should be even surfaces free of holes. A pothole is a depression or hollow in a road surface caused by wear or subsidence. Generally, all potholes start of quite small and increase in size and depth as more and more vehicles drive over or into it.

Road-building and maintenance is a job for properly qualified engineers and workers, using specialised equipment and materials. It is inadvisable for any unqualified person to do so since they can end up doing more damage than good. It's not as simple as pouring some concrete or tar into it and just like most people would not even think of trying to fill a dental cavity themselves. They really should leave this job to the professionals.

It is an offence to cause damage to the road surface, so theoretically, members of the public can be prosecuted for taking matters into their own hands.

They (municipalities) hire road maintenance firms to do so, or have their own internalised road maintenance departments do so. Sadly, the public won't know whether the people fixing the pothole are qualified to do it, or not. They simply need to hope that the road authority has that in hand.

There are tender processes for the awarding of road maintenance tasks, but the most likely reason for extended periods of non-repair can be attributed to lack of budget and/or resources to fix them. And in some cases, the fact that no-one has reported the pothole because people simply assume someone else has.