In a speech to Stellenbosch University last month, the learned and genteel Barloworld director Isaac Shongwe, acknowledging that a large majority of South Africans saw no future in this country, suggested that there were three options from which we could choose. The first was to build our walls higher and pretend that we were okay. The second was to leave the country and try forgetting what we left behind. The third was that we could get into the arena and get our faces dirty. Last week I decided to play in the mud.On the way to a regular TV appearance on Monday night I was trapped motionless, for about 20 minutes, between two massive construction vehicles halfway across Rivonia Road, outside the Sandton Gautrain station and a few hundred metres from the CNBC studio. It was peak hour, but because of load-shedding the traffic and street lights were not functioning. To make matters worse, the sun had set, reducing visibility on roads that decades of poor maintenance and relentless construction work had made uneven and unsafe.Sandton is the heart of South Africa's business world. Sandton City is probably the richest retail mall in Africa. The Michelangelo, Hilton and Radisson hotels are popular gathering spots for foreign visitors, and Investec, Nedbank, RMB and Discovery are among the high-profile institutions that have their head offices in the area. Yet, astoundingly, in all the confusion, there was not a policeman or pointsman in sight.I missed the TV show, which had to be cancelled. That was a minor issue, although the sponsor's views might differ. The gridlock in which I was stuck was not a one-off, nor was it necessarily a consequence of Eskom's load-shedding schedule. For Sandton commuters risking their safety and keeping their composure navigating the bedlam in this industrious hub is a daily event.For months Katherine Avenue, a crucial thoroughfare, has been under reconstruction. At the same time, not too far off, new office blocks are being erected, including corporate headquarters for Sasol, Discovery, Werksmans and Webber Wentzel. Besides disrupting traffic patterns (an understatement), the hordes of heavy-duty tipper-trucks servicing the building sites and the convoys of undisciplined taxis have added further stress and hazards to motorists, who, without the support of functioning robots and the presence of law-enforcement officers, have been forced to look to the heavens for protection.What's more, in order to avoid congestion on the major routes, unsupervised truck and taxi drivers have taken to deviating through narrow suburban roads not designed for heavy-duty passage, causing a further menace to residents, cyclists and pedestrians.The construction companies are not blameless, having failed to regulate the flow of their monstrous vehicles or put warning lights on the barriers bordering their sites.So, jammed in the middle of the road and petrified of being crushed by two lorries or harmed by some crazed taxi driver, I vowed to take action against the civic authorities for what I deemed dereliction of duty. As a compliant payer of taxes and rates, and a person who pays his electricity and water bills on time, I turned to the Justice Department to help me bring charges against the city's councillors for failing to maintain infrastructure and ensure that motorists comply with laws.I constructed a simple e-mail, highlighting my views that my experiences on the roads of Sandton over the past few months were clear evidence that the council has abandoned its obligation to care for the wellbeing of its residents.A week later I still had not received a reply or even acknowledgement of receipt. It just goes to prove my point...