Municipalities in Limpopo stand to benefit significantly from a R40 billion two to three year nationwide construction programme announced by Sanral recently.
A media release issued on behalf of Sanral stated that a part of the local investment will go towards the upgrading of the R573 Moloto Road which runs from Gauteng through Mpumalanga to Limpopo and is part of a R3 billion rehabilitation programme for the road.
Another major thrust of the programme will be to upgrade gravel access roads to surface roads and improve drainage. “One such project will benefit communities in the Ephraim Mogale Municipality in Limpopo where the gravel road from Tshikanoshi to Malebitsa will be upgraded to an asphalt surfaced road,” Progress Hlahla, Sanral’s Northern Region manager was quoted to have said.
According to the sratement, the Sanral network forms the backbone of the country’s transport system and the country depends heavily on road transport for the movement of 94% of all people and 87% of all goods in the country. The national road network serves as a catalyst for balanced economic growth, business confidence, investment and the transformation of society. A growing share of contracts will be allocated to black-owned construction companies and enterprises owned by women, the youth and the disabled. In its long-term vision, Horizon 2030, Sanral committed itself to the transformation of the construction and engineering sectors through the allocation of tenders to new entrants in these sectors.
Hlahla said a total of 51 tenders will be issued for routine road maintenance works, creating opportunities for construction companies with CIDB grades 6, 7 and 8. These companies will be required to further subcontract to smaller SMMEs to ensure that they also benefit from this project rollout. For conventional design and construction projects, Sanral will issue approximately 37 tenders for consultants and 27 for contractors in this financial year, according to Hlahla.
“Over the past six months, Sanral has brokered memorandums of understanding between emerging companies and major suppliers of construction equipment and machinery. These partnerships give black-owned companies greater access to financing, expertise and the sophisticated equipment required to tender for larger contracts,” the statement concluded.
Story: BARRY VILJOEN
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