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R740 Million investment towards the improvement of roads in Kou-Kamma Municipality

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Eastern Cape, 1 March 2024 – The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL), is poised to inject millions of rands into the Kou-Kamma Local Municipality when it implements six road maintenance projects with a combined value of R740 million, over the next few months.

SANRAL announced the investment during a Taking SANRAL to the People stakeholder engagement session held at the Ravinia Multipurpose Community Centre in Joubertina in the Eastern Cape Province. The session was a follow up to the ones that SANRAL held in Tsitsikamma and Kareedouw at the end of January this year.

Local leaders from the municipality, SMMEs and local community members, including youth, women, military veterans and people with disabilities, attended.

Outlining SANRAL’s investment, Siphesihle Bulose, SANRAL’s Project Manager, said SANRAL will implement several road infrastructure development projects in the municipality. “These projects include a periodic maintenance contract for the N2 National Road from Bloukrans River bridge to Storms River village intersection, valued at R80 million, and another contract from Storms River village to Wittelsbos, worth R50 million. The scope of work will entail the construction of surface seal, localised surface repairs, crack sealing and edge break repairs,” said Bulose.

“The special maintenance project on the R62 National Road between the border of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces is expected to start in June this year and over 30 SMMEs are expected to benefit and over 200 job opportunities will be created. About 250 job opportunities are expected to be created and over 35 SMMEs will benefit on the special maintenance project on the R62 National Road between Joubertina and Kareedouw.”

“The construction tender for the special maintenance of the National Road R62 between Louterwater and Joubertina is in design stage, while the periodic maintenance between Bloukrans River Bridge and Storms River Village is at tender evaluation stage, and the contract for the periodic maintenance between Storms River Village and Wittelsbos is in construction tender stage, closing in March 2024,” added Bulose.

Presenting SANRAL’s pre-tender training endeavours, Zenande Mpondo, from SANRAL Southern Region’s Transformation unit, said that the roads entity will train and develop SMME contractors to enhance their business acumen and tendering skills.

“All SMMEs will be required to undertake assessment and class activities during the training, and they will have to demonstrate competence to be awarded the unit standard. The unit standards are from the National Certificate: Construction Contracting NQF 2. These unit standards are a skills programme that will have a credit value towards the National Certificate,” said Mpondo.

Welekazi Ndika, SANRAL Southern Region’s Stakeholder Coordinator, emphasised the importance of communicating through Project Liaison Committees (PLCs). “Whenever communities have issues, they should be dealt with through the PLCs. As government entity that is committed to its transformation agenda, it is part of SANRAL’s mandate to develop local SMMEs. At the completion of a project, SMMEs in Grade One, for example, should be able to upgrade Grade Two or Three,” said Ndika.

SANRAL uses its stakeholder engagement sessions as a platform to outline benefits of its road infrastructure build programmes to local communities in terms of job opportunities, skills development, training and subcontracting of emerging contractors, suppliers and services providers.

Through these sessions, the roads agency underscores the imminent impactful road infrastructure investments it makes, improving the socio-economic conditions of communities that live along its national road network.

The announcement of these upcoming projects has garnered a positive reaction from the community, who expressed satisfaction that the projects will finally kick off.

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