The multibillion-rand upgrade of Moloto Road is expected to be completed by June.
On Monday, project manager Lawrence Chauke of the SA National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) said contracts of this nature normally take 36 months or longer to complete, based on when the construction started.
Chauke said they had divided the construction into four sections, adding that they were currently in phase two of the project between Slovo and Siyabuswa.
“This section commenced in February 2021 and the completion is now in February of this year 2024. In terms of spending, we have spent R503 million in terms of construction, and local beneficiaries like small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have benefited R85m,” the project manager added.
He further said that local labourers from the area also benefited from the project to a total value of R25m.
Chauke aid about 47 SMMEs benefited from the project, demonstrating the success of the project.
He also said the training of unskilled workers played a significant role in the project, as they spent R5m on training alone.
“Among others, we had community training, which is not the norm in project of this magnitude.
“We normally focus on technical training. With the community training, we looked at issues like community farming, which we know is not part of the project, but we were looking at investing in projects that community members would continue with them beyond the completion of the project,” Chauke added.
According to the project manager, the project also assisted about 250 young people to obtain their driver’s licences.
Chauke said their partnership with the community yielded great results.
A beneficiary, Nthabiseng Mdakane, told “The Star” that the project helped her a lot, as she joined the company as an intern and she was now an employee.
“I started here as an intern. Today, I am an employee of the company and also I am a beneficiary of a driving licence that the company has initiated.
“There are many of us who have really benefited from the project and I wish other projects would emulate this great initiative from Sanral and partners in absorbing and giving young professionals an opportunity to participate in such huge projects.”
In 2019, the National Treasury allocated about R21.5 billion per year for the maintenance and improvement of Sanral’s 19 262km non-toll network.
Municipalities in Mpumalanga, North West and Limpopo were significant beneficiaries of the R40bn two- to three-year nationwide construction programme announced by Sanral.
According to the roads agency, the local investment would go towards the upgrading of Moloto Road (R573), which runs from Gauteng through Mpumalanga to Limpopo and was part of a R3bn rehabilitation programme for the road.
Furthermore, it said some R315m would be spent in the Thembisile Hani Municipality in Mpumalanga and create more than 900 direct jobs.
The major thrust of the programme would be to upgrade gravel access roads to surface roads and improve drainage.
Progress Hlahla, Sanral’s Northern Region manager, said: “One such project will benefit communities in the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality in Limpopo where the gravel road from Tshikanoshi to Malebitsa will be upgraded to an asphalt-surfaced road.”
The Star
sipho.jack@inl.co.za