The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport is launching the provincial leg of the S'hamba Sonke (moving together) programme aimed at improving public roads across the province. The provincial launch will take place at Duduza, Nigel in Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality on 7 July 2011.
The S'hamba Sonke roads management plan is a national project focusing on the maintenance and construction of the secondary road infrastructure, using labour intensive methods. A budget of R6.4 billion has been allocated for the initial 2011/12 period, with 70 000 temporary job opportunities expected to be created. The total cost of the national programme will reach R22 billion by 2014 and funding would be ring-fenced for the purpose of roads maintenance. The province of Gauteng has been allocated R566 million for 2011/12 financial year.
The launch is a response to the on-going deterioration of South Africa's provincial road network that is costing the economy and road users approximately billions of rands.
The programme is fully funded by the national Department of Transport through conditional grants to provinces for road infrastructure maintenance and upgrades. The success of the scheme requires that all spheres of government cooperate and work together in improving the road infrastructure.
Small and emerging contractors stand to benefit from the launch of this programme. These contractors, on the other hand, are expected to contribute by creating a sizeable number of job opportunities using labour-intensive methods.
