Major boost for rural communities in KwaZulu-Natal as Transport Deputy Minister opens multimillion rand access roads
The Deputy Minister of Transport, Ms Sindisiwe Chikunga will officially open multimillion rand, completed access roads (D911 which is 7 kilometers long and D 912 which is 5.5 kilometers long and specifically links provincial route P327 and P59 to Harding and the N2 to Port Shepstone) on Monday, 1 August 2016 in KwaZulu-Natal.
The official opening of the access roads will take place at the Elangeni open field in Kwamachi village in Harding.
A solid collaboration between the National Department of Transport, its entity SANRAL, uMuziwabantu local Municipality, the local traditional leaders and the provincial Department of Transport in KwaZulu-Natal made the realisation of the access road possible.
The construction of the access roads has cost more than R60 million and will assist the Kwamachi community and surrounding villages to have easy access to many essential services which they could not access in the past because of the bad road conditions.
Deputy Minister Chikunga will be joined by the Mayor of uMuziwabantu local Municipality Ms Dixie Nciki, Chairperson of Small Business Development Portfolio Committee in Parliament Ms Ruth Bhengu, members of the community as well as key transport stakeholders and senior government officials.
The details of the event are as follows:
Official opening and of the cutting ribbon:
Date: Monday, 1 August 2016
Time: 10h00
Venue: Elangeni Sports Field, next to Pisgah clinic in Kwamachi Village, Harding (KZN).
NB: Members of the media please note that there will be transport for media from the Durban Playhouse starting at 08h00am. There will also be transport for journalists in Pietermaritzburg and Port Shepstone, hence confirmations are required.
Additional information for editors:
The South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) is a state-owned entity falling under the oversight of the National Department of Transport. Its distinct mandate is to finance, improve, manage and maintain the national road network.
Apart from improving roads infrastructure, SANRAL is also contributing to economic empowerment and poverty alleviation by ensuring that small, medium and micro-enterprises (SMMEs) are exposed to work experiences that would otherwise not have been possible. Millions of rand have been paid to SMMEs working on the Harding projects.
To date a total of 20 local SMME’s have been engaged on the project at a total cost of R24 305 371.00. If the Training Service provider (who has SMME and BBBEE status but is based in Durban) is included, this amount increases to R25 683 650.00. These SMMEs provided the following services:
- Tractor Hire
- Truck Hire
- Accommodation for operators
- Transport of aggregates
- Materials/aggregate
- Welding/Plant maintenance
- Delivery of building materials
- Accredited Training.
All media houses are invited to attend. Journalists attending the event are requested to confirm their attendance with Sam Monareng: 073 491 3382 or MonarenS@dot.gov.za.
