The Johannesburg Roads Agency's (JRA's) Find & Fix mobile app still needs fixing, despite the agency announcing at the end of last year that its app is “fully functional”.
In November, the IT division of the JRA notified users about the pothole reporting app’s intermittent availability, saying some users had not been able to access it since 20 November.
On 10 December, the JRA issued a statement saying its app was back in business.
However, it appears issues with the app have continued since then, with some users taking to social media and the review pages of operating systems to express frustrations about the app’s lack of functionality.
When trying to access it, the app brings up various errors, including not allowing users to log in, not allowing new registrations, timeout and cancellation messages, as well as a security certificate alert.
The JRA has not specified the cause of the malfunction on the app, only noting in a statement on Twitter last Thursday that it “has been experiencing technical difficulties with the Find & Fix mobile application”.
It adds: “Some users are unable to access the app because the mobile application is not fully functional. The JRA would like to apologise for the inconvenience caused during the restoration time.”
Unveiled in May 2014, the JRA app was introduced to serve as an additional communication tool, to report road infrastructure problems such as potholes and broken storm water drains. The online reporting tool records GPS co-ordinates of reported problems and allows users to take photo evidence.
Although the last version update was on 10 July 2017, the app has, to date, recorded over 10 000 installations, according to the Google Play Store.
Some users who have downloaded the app are using the reviews page to air their grievances, and plead for the app to be restored.
On 11 November, Jasmita Naran wrote: “Previously useful. Have not been able to log issues for weeks. Uninstalled and re-installed. Now app does not open at all.”
Andrew Johnson shared a similar sentiment on 9 December, writing: “Used to be very useful. Now cannot login or register again. Hopefully they will fix so pothole reporting can continue.”
“Cannot log in, it looks like they disabled the app. Usual incompetence, maladministration and the like,” stated Pradeep Roy on 7 February.
Marius de Lange wrote on 6 February: “There is a Java security [certificate] error on the app and it has stopped working. Any attempt at fixing this app? It was really useful when it worked.”
Similar sentiments are expressed on Twitter, with @humayramia tweeting: “You guys can't fix potholes, robots, missing manhole covers, etc, when reported, where you going to fix an app?”
@4debeera asks: “@MyJRA is the JRA Find & Fix app on Android still functional?”
@SACountryweLOVE tweets: “@MyJRA the JRA app has an error since 2019. I tried to reload a fresh version, same error. Please resolve.”
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