Future road safety plans will be adapted to ensure closer alignment between provinces and national agencies responsible for enforcement and awareness, said Transport Minister Nzimande when he released the 2018 Easter road statistics. A total of 510 lives were lost on the roads. This represents an increase of 14% from the comparable period last year. Dr Nzimande said the Road Traffic Management Corporation and the provinces will use the data to develop a road safety plan, focusing on the main contributory factors of crashes such as pedestrians, impaired driving, dangerous driving and occupant safety.
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Progress made on N2WC
Aveng Strabag JV the contractor appointed for the 40-month R1.64 billion Mtentu gorge bridge contract started construction in January 2018. The retender for the nearby Msikaba gorge mega cable-stay bridge closed in April 2018. The award is expected to be announced in late 2018 and work on the Msikaba bridge should start in 2019.
Latest on Moloto Rd project
Construction on the R573 Moloto Road is progressing steadily. SANRAL, and contracted companies, are working around the clock to ensure that all work undertaken is in accordance with plan and is completed within the stipulated five to seven years. The aim is to make it safer and better for pedestrians and motorists. There are several planned upgrades along the R573 for 2018.
Black-owned company reaps benefits of N2 Wild Coast Road Project
Masakhane Project Managers win R54-million supplier contract for Mtentu Bridge.
A black-owned construction company, Masakhane Project Managers (Masakhane), is seeing the positive socio-economic effects anticipated from the South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited’s (SANRAL) N2 Wild Coast Road (N2WCR).
Masakhane has recently been appointed as one of the suppliers for a major project in the second phase of the greenfield portion of the N2WCR project.
After winning a tough competition between four potential companies, Masakhane will supply aggregate for the Mtentu Bridge construction, a contract estimated at R54-million.
They will be responsible for mining and processing rock from their dolerite quarry at Dudumeni Village in Ward 8 of the Mbizana Local Municipality under Ntlenzi A/A, which is between Bizana and Flagstaff.
All the aggregate for the Mtentu Bridge piers and deck will be sourced from this single quarry to ensure a consistent quality and appearance of the concrete.
The highest bridge in Africa
Situated in a remote location across a deep gorge of the Mtentu River, which is a boundary between the rural municipalities of Mbizana and Ingquza Hill, the Mtentu Bridge forms an essential component of the greenfield section of the N2WC project. It is set to provide road users with an 85km shorter route and will deliver travel time savings of up to three hours.
Once completed the 1,1km long, 223m high Mtentu Bridge will be the highest bridge in Africa and the Southern Hemisphere.
Masakhane has been subcontracted by the main contractors of the bridge, Aveng Strabag Joint Venture (JV), which is comprised of partners Aveng Grinaker-LTA, a major South African-based construction company, and Strabag, a leading construction company in Europe with extensive experience in major balanced cantilever methodology bridge construction.
A son of the soil
Managing Director and Founder of Masakhane, Ayanda Notshweleka, was born and raised in Flagstaff.
His experience in the construction industry spans over a decade, as he has worked for companies including Murray and Roberts, WBHO and Ugu Municipality.
As a quantity surveyor, he founded Masakhane Project Managers, which deals with construction, project management, civil and building, property development, cost consulting and quarry mining in 2004.
Speaking on the 40-month aggregate supply contract will boost his company, Notshweleka said he currently hires equipment for his projects and that a contract of this magnitude enables him, as a black quarry miner, to approach banks for financing to purchase plant equipment, which can cost upwards of R30-million.
“Quarry mining is white-dominated sector in the Alfred Nzo and OR Tambo region. Initiatives such as this by SANRAL to support black quarry mining companies, contribute largely to transformation of the industry,” said Notshweleka.
Locals will benefit
Approximately 45 direct job opportunities are expected to be created through the Masakhane sub-contract. Fifteen locals will be appointed for operations at the quarry.
“Masakhane has subcontracted the transportation of the material from the quarry to the bridge site to three local trucking cooperatives from Bizana, Flagstaff and Lusikisiki. Each trucking cooperative will supply five trucks, with each to be operated by two people, a driver and assistant, working out to 30 additional job opportunities,” Notshweleka said.
“We also plan to launch a training programme through a local driving school where 15 young women from the neighbouring villages of Khanyayo, KwaMadiba and Dudumeni will obtain learners and drivers licences.”
The aim is to appoint these women as trainee drivers with the respective trucking associations upon completion of the training programme.
Notshweleka added that locals have largely been subjected to the steep prices of building materials because of transport costs from quarries outside the region. “One other spin-off this project presents is that local contractors and the community at large will be able to access building materials at more affordable rates as the high cost of transportation will be lessened when materials are sourced locally.”
SANRAL General Manager of Communications, Vusi Mona, said: “SANRAL will require several additional local quarries to be expanded or established to supply the quite considerable amount of aggregate and crushed rock material required for the construction of the rest of the nine major bridges and 110km of road making up the greenfield section of the future N2 Wild Coast Road.
“The Mtentu Bridge aggregate contract is therefore only the first of many similar contracts for local quarry owners that will be realised over the next few years.”
A boost for the region
The Mtentu Bridge site is located on the border between the Mbizana Local Municipality and Ingquza Hill Municipality, whose population is 98% rural, comprising the towns of Bizana, Lusikisiki and Flagstaff, and numerous villages.
Poverty is prevalent in the area with the unemployment rate at 43.6% for the 282 000 Mbizana populace and 51.6% for the Ingquza Hill population of 278 000. Key economic drivers, which include agriculture, tourism, mining and the ocean economy, are said to be underdeveloped.
The Masakhane offices are in Seaview (ward 8), Mzamba, a village just over 20km from Bizana towards Port Edward.
Work on the construction of the Mtentu Bridge started in January. It will continue over a period of 40 months and is expected to be completed by May 2021.
Coordinated responses save lives on SA roads daily
Road Incident Management System oversees efforts between emergency services and traffic officials during incidents.
When a crash occurs on any major road in South Africa, the first priority is to assemble emergency services and traffic management teams to the scene.
Emergency services can help save the lives of crash victims, while traffic officials must manage the traffic flow and prevent any further incidents.
These processes are coordinated by the Road Incident Management System (RIMS), which is in place on major roads in the country.
The South African national Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) has been mandated by the Department of Transport to establish and implement RIMS.
The system sets in motion a sequence of coordinated activities when an incident or crash occurs. The intention is to minimise the direct and secondary effects of the incident, and to restore traffic to normal operating conditions as soon as possible.
Essential services, such as traffic authorities, the SA Police Service, emergency medical, fire and rescue services, are connected to RIMS to ensure coordinated action and the implementation of standard operating procedures.
RIMS is already implemented on all national roads and will be rolled out to provincial roads as a priority project. Coordinating systems have been established in each province.
This includes centralised communication centres that receive emergency calls from the public and dispatch emergency teams to the scene of an incident.
SANRAL is constantly working on methods to improve the speed of detection and response to support crash victims, manage traffic flows and remove obstructions that might cause further incidents.
RIMS also facilitates the training of members of emergency services to ensure coordinated actions take place according to the correct protocols. Detailed debriefings and assessments are done after major crashes to determine the cause of the incident and evaluate the action of the responders.
Comprehensive statistics are fed into the RIMS system and the data is analysed to identify incident trends and hazardous locations.
This information enables SANRAL to introduce road safety interventions that mitigate the risk of serious injury and fatal crashes in future.
SANRAL condemns violence during Mooi River protests
Agency calls on law enforcement agencies to act decisively on those who destroyed property and endangered safety.
The South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) condemned the violent and destructive protests at the Mooi River toll plaza, which took place over the long weekend in April, in the strongest terms.
SANRAL CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma said: “There is a right to protest, but that does not include the right to destroy public or other property, nor to endanger life and limb. Clearly the ugly protests at the Mooi River toll plaza over the long weekend violated this principle.
“We strongly condemn such actions and call on law enforcement agencies to act decisively and see to it that those guilty of breaking the law are brought to book.”
The agency would not speculate as to the cause of the violent action, but deplored the fact that protesters resorted to intimidation and destruction to make their point.
Macozoma said: “This was not a matter in which the roads agency was directly involved, but it endangered the safety of those using the N3, damaged tourism prospects in the province and hurt the image of South Africa. Nothing was gained from the protest.
“The violence that often characterizes demonstrations and protests is deplorable and can never be justified. There are other ways to settle disputes, and we ask that those involved find each other to resolve the outstanding issues.”
Macozoma regretted the negative impact and inconvenience the violent incidents had on those travelling through the toll plaza.
He called on all South Africans to heed the call made by President Cyril Ramaphosa in Port Elizabeth during a workers’ day rally: “Let us exercise our right to protest in a way that is going to make sure that one, will look after the vulnerable, two, that will look after the assets of our nation.”
Minister of Transport on road safety drive in Port Elizabeth
The Eastern Cape had the fourth–highest fatalities in the country over Easter.
The Minister of Transport, Dr Blade Nzimande, and Eastern Cape MEC for Transport and Safety, Weziwe Tikana, led several road safety activation programmes in Port Elizabeth after the holiday period.
The MEC visited the Addo Road Bridge in Motherwell, a project of the South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL), where a group of volunteers formed a guard of honour and displayed road safety messages.
Tikana was later joined by the Minister on a visit to the family of a road accident victim in Missionvale and later visited the Raymond Mhlaba Indoor Sports Centre to meet with families who lost loved ones to road accidents and who are beneficiaries of the Road Accident Fund (RAF).
The activation formed part of the long weekend of Freedom Day and Workers’ Day celebrations on 1 May, and involved the Department’s agencies, RAF, Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Cross Boarder Road Transport Agency (CBRTA) and SANRAL.
A province with many road fatalities
The Minister’s visit to the Eastern Cape followed the release of the 2018 Preliminary Easter Road Safety report at the end of April.
The report indicated the province had the fourth-highest fatalities in the country with 59 people having lost their lives.
A RTMC report of 2015/16 outlined several hazardous locations and 11 of those locations are in Nelson Mandela Bay.
The MEC said: “We took a decision to come to this area amongst the areas identified on the RTMC report. The programme started on 24 April and we are closing it today. We are providing road safety education, road blocks, search and seizures, and we were also patrolling throughout the night.”
Pedestrian safety
One of the focal areas highlighted in the report is pedestrian safety. The Province and the District identified Addo Road as one of the hazardous locations that required road safety intervention.
SANRAL has prioritized Addo Road and included it in its plans to effect traffic calming measures. This initiative demonstrates a perfect integration and collaboration of transport entities and law enforcement authorities working together with the community to improve service delivery in Road Safety.
Efforts made by the agency to reduce road fatalities and enhance pedestrian safety on Addo Road, were outlined by Craig Mclachlan, SANRAL Project Manager for the Eastern Cape.
Mclachlan said: “SANRAL is extending the dual carriageway in Motherwell to facilitate turning movements and improve various intersections to eliminate some of the conflicting traffic movements.
“SANRAL will also be providing pedestrian facilities alongside the dual carriageway sections in Motherwell to reduce motor vehicle-pedestrian conflict, and we will be improving the Motherwell N2 Interchange to improve the capacity of the interchange and try to eliminate the backing up of vehicles on the N2 during afternoon peak hour.”
The project value of the 27-month long road upgrade of the R335 from Motherwell to Addo is estimated at R780-million.
The project scope includes upgrading urban and rural road sections, and constructing new bridges over Coega and the Sundays River. This includes the extension of the current dual carriageway section through Motherwell, as well as improvements to the N2 St Georges / Motherwell interchange.
“We need to ensure that budget allocation to roads is not only used to construct new roads, we need to ensure that existing roads are maintained because if we don’t do so, these roads become a hazard,” said the Minister.
Minister Nzimande, the MEC and CEOs of the Department’s road entities and law enforcement officers also engaged with motorists, passengers and pedestrians on the N2 towards Colchester highlighting and emphasising the importance of their safety on the road during the long weekend.
Embracing technology for safer roads
Randall Cable, Western Cape Regional Manager, writes that all stakeholders must play a proactive role in road safety.
Technology is changing society in so many ways and we must intensify our search for more technological solutions when addressing the very complex issue of road safety.
The use of technology to promote road safety is also very much aligned with the “Safe System” approach adopted globally through the United Nation’s Plan for Road Safety, and which also underpins South Africa’s National Road Safety Strategy approved by Cabinet last year.
The Safe System approach accentuates the need for all stakeholders to accept responsibility for road safety. Road authorities such as SANRAL will continue to play a proactive role in ensuring a road environment that is self-explaining, forgiving and which provides for the needs of all roads users, including pedestrians.
We as humans are fallible, and we make mistakes, and we will therefore not be able to eradicate all road crashes.
However, through the ‘Safe System’ approach and the use of technology, it is possible to reduce the risk of serious injuries or fatalities when crashes do occur.
The Safe System approach also requires road users to play their part and use the transport system within the rules and constraints for which they were designed.
SANRAL therefore continues to initiate and support technological projects that advance road safety education and awareness and traffic law enforcement programmes that improve road user attitudes and behaviour.
This is an opinion piece by Randall Cable, SANRAL’s Western Cape Regional Manager.
SANRAL looks to own revenue generation
The cut in SANRAL’s budget allocation this year is one reason why own revenue generation becomes more urgent.
The budget for the non-toll portfolio is received from National Treasury by means of an annual budget allocation. The toll budget is funded from the revenues collected at toll plazas.
The size of the national road network under the jurisdiction of SANRAL has been steadily growing with an initial long-term goal of extending it to 35 000km through the incorporation of 13 510km from provinces.
SANRAL has conducted research to assess the implications of the road transfers – it does not have the financial and human capital capacity to take over the management of such a large network. It has to be prudent regarding national road network growth, the provision of support to other road authorities and the incorporation of roads from other spheres of government.
The pressing need is to balance network growth against insufficient funds per kilometre required to maintain the network to an acceptable level.
The long-term strategy of SANRAL, Horizon 2030, proposes a review of the proposed road transfers from provinces from more than 13 000km to only 3 000km. This new approach will result in a more sustainable national road network of 25 000km with a stable budget per kilometre.
The agency’s current diversified funding strategy is informed by the prevailing funding policies of the National Treasury and the Department of Transport. This seeks to ensure an equitable allocation of public funds across sectors to achieve multiple objectives. This means road authorities are not likely to receive required funding allocations to effectively manage road networks. This results in different trade-offs and the use of alternative funding strategies.
The introduction of private finance in the form of state tolls and PPPs has proved valuable for SANRAL and allowed it to broaden the magnitude of the funding envelope and achieve more than it could, and much sooner, were it only reliant on the non-toll fiscal allocations.
Toll allows us to implement large projects when needed. This leads to greater economic benefits realised in the short term, as opposed to rolling much-needed projects out as and when funds are made available from the fiscus which delays the benefit felt.
SANRAL is now at a stage where opportunities for own revenue generation warrant serious consideration given the existing demands and constraints. Own revenue generation logically forms the final pillar of an integrated funding strategy that would seek to diversify funding sources and apply innovative funding solutions.
SANRAL’s big plans for KZN
The N3 Corridor has got off the starting blocks: the 84km freeway between Durban and Pietermaritzburg – KwaZulu-Natal’s Gateway to Africa – is planned to be upgraded in phases over the next 8 to 10 years.
Phase1, which includes the critical sections between Cato Ridge and Pietermaritzburg, the Key Ridge realignment and the EB Cloete to Paradise Valley section, will be upgraded over the next five years.
Detailed designs are being drawn up for the reconstruction of the N3 between Durban and Cedara at an estimated cost of between R22 and R24 billion. The plans include a ring-road around Pietermaritzburg to avoid the notorious Town Hill section of the N3.
SANRAL Eastern Region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny said the N3 Corridor is essential if one of government’s strategic integrated projects linking the Port of Durban with Gauteng, South Africa’s economic heartland, is to succeed.
“Environmental impact assessments are also being commissioned while routes are being plotted to increase the capacity and safety of the freeway which will have up to four and even five lanes in each direction over certain sections,” said Ronny.
Major realignment of the highway will take place at Key Ridge and Town Hill where the steep grades cause major traffic congestion, especially when heavy-duty vehicles are on the road.
If the upgrades do not go ahead, it is estimated that users of the N3 will continue to suffer losses of nearly R800 million per annum – due to crashes and time delays. R775 million can be attributed to time delays and between R250 000 and R295 000 per hour to accidents and road closures due to crashes.
Twelve proposed new routes are being investigated to eliminate the problems at Town Hill. A 14 km ring-road around Pietermaritzburg and north-east of the current N3 alignment is being considered as one of the more favoured routes.
Ronny said the N3 carries in excess of 40 000 vehicles per day around Pietermaritzburg and consists of a mix of urban commuter traffic, long distance traffic and a substantial number of heavy vehicles, with some sections in excess of 25% heavy vehicles.
“In excess of 40 million tons of freight per annum is carried on the N3 corridor, with approximately 9 000 heavy vehicles using the national road per day.
“Durban is by far South Africa’s busiest port with over 80% of goods moving along this corridor by road.
“Therefore, the need to consider the best economic solutions to ensure the seamless flow of freight is very important to this corridor,” said Ronny, adding any blockage on the N3 causing its closure was tantamount to a national crisis.