‘Deadly’ Moloto Road handed over to Sanral for upgrades
"We have allocated R4.5-billion to this project over the next five years."
The “deadly” Moloto Road in the north of Pretoria was transferred to the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) for upgrades, transport minister Fikile Mbalula said this week.
“We listened to the pleas by local communities and road users, and responded by transferring the entire Moloto Road across Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo to Sanral.”
Mbalula made the announcement during the launch of October transport month in Mpumalanga last week.
“We have allocated R4.5-billion to this project over the next five years,” he said.
The transfer of the notorious road, which had been the site of several traffic accidents throughout the years, comes after the Gauteng provincial government was lambasted for not handing their portion of the road for upgrades in 2019.
ALSO READ: Two hurt in Moloto Road collision
According to DA roads and transport spokesperson Janho Engelbrecht, the Gauteng stretch of the road was left out of the multi-billion rand budget from Sanral for the upgrades of the road at the time.
The budget allocated by Sanral for the upgrades for the Mpumalanga and Limpopo sections of the road was said to have been about R5.7-billion for the 2019/2020 cycle.
Roads and Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo, however, maintained the road was a priority while his spokesperson Theo Nkonki said upgrades to the road were in planning and design phases.
At the launch, Mbalula said the road had already seen the training of 135 small, medium and micro enterprises along with 185 non-governmental organisations from the neighbouring Tembisile Hani municipality to improve their chances of participating in the project and in the construction industry in general.
“Furthermore, the number of jobs have been created. We project that over the lifespan of the project some 12 500 jobs will be created,” he said.
At least three fatal and serious injuries were recorded on the deadly road in recent weeks.
ALSO READ: NEWSFLASH: Two killed as bus rolls on Moloto Road
In one incident, a man died after a light motor vehicle collided with a government-owned vehicle.
In another incident, another man died while four adults and two children were seriously injured in a head-on collision between two light motor vehicles.
This year’s transport month was expected to focus on service delivery across modes of transport with particular attention to roads infrastructure development.
“Under the theme ‘together shaping the future of transport’, we aim to raise awareness of the important role of transport in the economy. We want to invite civil society and the corporate sector’s participation in providing a safer, more affordable transport system for the country,” said Mbalula.
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