Still no sign of contractor on damaged section of busy R40 between White River and Hazyview

Sanral has set aside between R18m and R40m for the rehabilitation of the R40 next to Klipkopjes Dam.

This busy road was damaged by the heavy storms that hit the Lowveld region in February last year. Some of the roads that had been closed due to these damages, have been temporarily reopened, and that stretch of the R40 is still operating on a stop-and-go basis.

ALSO READ: Flood-damaged roads in Mpumalanga remain closed

According to Sanral’s northern region project manager, Tony Seloana, a contractor had been appointed and was supposed to be on-site before the end of February. “We are aware that the road needed urgent attention, but we needed to follow the prescribed procurement processes, which has been done so far. Another delay was the fact that the road needed to be redesigned again, and that has now been done,” he said.

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He insisted that the road would get the attention it needs, as most of the legalities have been dealt with.

Hazyview Herald has established that no contractor is currently on-site yet as Sanral promised. However, Seloana promised that he would get back to the paper about why this is.

Regarding the R536 between Sabie and Hazyview, the spokesperson for the Department of Public Works, Roads and Transport, Bongani Dhlamini, previously said permanent repairs would start in February and are expected to take 12 months. This would also include the rehabilitation of a stretch of 7.7km of road from Hazyview’s side. Dhlamini also confirmed that the contractor has been appointed, and that they are on-site, busy with the repairs.