Multi-million rand Marine Drive rehabilitation to start soon

After petitions on the poor condition of Marine Drive (P395), between Southbroom and Port Shepstone, the MEC of Transport, Sipho Hlomuka officially launched a multi-million rand rehabilitation project, to boost tourism and create job opportunities on the South Coast last Friday.

The project value is a whopping R581 million of which 36.75% totalling R139 million will be allocated to local contractors, creating over 198 job opportunities.

It is envisaged to be constructed in one phase, and the contract has been awarded to Raubex, one of the largest road construction companies.

Over 25km of the road will be rehabilitated over a period of 30 months. The P395 serves as an alternate route to the N2 and also connects local roads, which lead to communities and the beach.
A sod turning ceremony was held in Marine Drive by the leadership of Ray Nkonyeni Municipality (RNM) and Ugu District Municipality, together with Amakhosi.

However, DA ward 2 councillor, Alan Bosch felt excluded from the event as he was not part of the sod turning which took place in his ward.

The councillor and some of the residents who played a huge role in getting attention on the state of the road said they felt the project was turned into an ANC 2024 election campaign, as many jobs were promised to the people of the South Coast.

The main event was held at the Port Shepstone Civic Centre and was attended by members of RNM’s ward committees who were also interested in the job creation aspect of the project.
MEC Hlomuka said the province will continue to implement infrastructure development, to improve access to tourist destinations as part of efforts to help drive sustainable economic growth.

“It is important for us to focus on places such as the South Coast that have an high attraction of tourists. Good roads and well maintained infrastructure assists in drawing tourists, thus boosting the economy. We believe that the rehabilitation of this road will assist the South Coast into reviving their tourism sector which was battered by the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Hlomuka.

DA ward councillors in RNM – Alan Bosch, Jean Schmidt, George Henderson, Paul Brauteseth and Doug Rawlins released a joint statement saying that they are pleased that the project has finally been given the go ahead.
The councillors agreed that this is a long term project and promised to keep residents informed on progress, as it will disrupt traffic and there has to be careful planning of alternative routes.

“In the interim we will pressurise the KZN Department of Transport to repair the section from the BP Garage to Waffle House bridge in Ramsgate. This is a safety issue and therefore a priority as it is very dangerous,” said the councillors.

Some of the residents said they are hopeful that once the project is completed big events such as Africa Bike Week will return to the South Coast.

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