ERMELO – Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Deputy Minister of Transport, and the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) concluded October Transport Month (OTM) with a ‘Taking Sanral to the People’ event at the Gert Sibande District Municipality in Ermelo on October 31.
Top of the agenda was economic opportunities availed by more than R3-billion worth of infrastructure upgrades across the province of Mpumalanga.
“We are here to engage,” Ms Chikunga said during her keynote address.
“No Sanral project will hit the ground without us having engaged the local communities along the national road network.”
The OTM campaign has seen Ms Chikunga visit several municipalities across the country.
The aim has been to engage, in particular, subcontractors on project participation opportunities.
While the triple challenge of poverty, unemployment and inequality were common denominators, particularly in rural communities, it was the alleged unfair treatment of subcontractors by main contractors, that prompted the deputy minister to urge Sanral’s board to increase support to small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).
“I can see that Sanral is making great strides in capacitating and developing our SMMEs to carve pathways out of poverty.
“I also acknowledge the way they prioritise economic opportunities for women-owned and youth-owned businesses.
“We do, however, need to go back to the drawing board and see how we can better support our SMMEs.
“When they are all complaining about the same thing, it has to be investigated and solutions found,” Ms Chikunga said.
According to Mr Thabiso Senatla, the spokesman for Sanral, across the province there are several projects in construction and in the pipeline, to the tune of R3,4-billion for operations and maintenance projects, as well as approximately R1,6 billion for conventional and reseal projects.
In the Gert Sibande District Municipality, Sanral will construct an R800-million new ring road around the town of Ermelo to improve mobility and increase safety of the existing road network in Ermelo.
The project will create around 600 job opportunities.
Mr Progress Hlahla, the region manager for Sanral North, expanded on the construction of the Ermelo Ring Road in Msukaligwa Local Municipality.
Mr Hlahla said that the town of Ermelo is located along three major roads:
• The N2 national road, N11 and N17.
• The N17 follows an east-west alignment through the town and links Gauteng to Swaziland at the Oshoek border post.
• The N11 follows a north-south alignment through the town and links with Ladysmith, New Castle, Volksrust, Amersfoort and Hendrina towards the N4 national road.
“All these roads are important freight corridors for the transportation of Mpumalanga’s economic resources such as timber, agricultural produce and coal which is also transported by rail.
“They also carry commuters, and private and tourism traffic.
“As a result of this traffic composition, and the increasing number of vehicles travelling on these roads through the town of Ermelo, the desired mobility and road safety need to be enhanced,” he said.
Read Sanral’s additional plans and what Cllr Muzi Chirwa, the mayor of Gert Sibande District Municipality had to say in the Highvelder newspaper.
