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MEC of Transport, Safety and Liaison, Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe, launched the pothole repair project called Operation Vala Zonke in the Eastern Cape on the R346 route between Mount Coke and the East London Airport in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality.

MEDIA RELEASE
Eastern Cape Province ready to eradicate potholes

Eastern Cape, 10 August 2022: MEC of Transport, Safety and Liaison Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe launched the programme to fix potholes in the Eastern Cape, called Operation Vala Zonke, on the R346 route between Mount Coke and the East London Airport in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality, on Monday. The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) will take the lead in this national project and will work with the provincial Department of Transport to fix potholes on all surfaced provincial roads.

The provincial launch was part of the national Vala Zonke Campaign launched by the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, in Sedibeng, Gauteng on Monday. The Minister launched the campaign concurrently with Members of Provincial Executives Councils (MECs) responsible for transport across all provinces.

The National Department of Transport is supporting District Municipalities with Road Infrastructure Planning through the Rural Road Asset Management Systems Grant (RRAMSG), as provided for in the Division of Revenue Act (DORA).

The Department has been hard at work intensifying interventions aimed at addressing challenges relating to road infrastructure with a comprehensive plan to address potholes in provinces, with SANRAL leading the labour-intensive national project.

Tikana-Gxothiwe said the province was aligning their work with Operation Valazonke to eradicate the potholes. She said the EC DoT had planned to fix 65 000m² of potholes in the province and set aside a budget of R49 million.
“The lack of financial resources can be attributed to the reason why the roads have not been maintained as well as not monitoring progress of work. There is a backlog of road maintenance. All our citizens want surface roads which is a challenge because of a lack of financial resources and projects not being monitored on a regular basis. More resources are needed to assist meeting our target. SANRAL is taking over five roads in the province, which is great.

“We have done good work in the Sarah Baartman District Municipality, and we are busy working in Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality. We will continue to work in Alfred Nzo District Municipality. We try to work with the communities,” said Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe.

She also commended SANRAL for launching an App which can be used to report and monitor potholes. “We appreciate the APP which is introduced by SANRAL. The APP will assist us a lot with identifying and reporting potholes and to speed up the repair time,” said Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe.

Mbulelo Peterson, SANRAL Southern Region Manager, said as a state-owned entity, SANRAL in the region will work with the Eastern Cape Department of Transport. “SANRAL will lead the fixing of potholes programme and provide technical support to the province,” said Peterson.

Peterson added that fixing potholes will improve road infrastructure. “We have to maintain our road network to provide world-class road network,” said Peterson.

Video of MEC of Transport, Safety and Liaison Weziwe Tikana-Gxothiwe: https://we.tl/t-tMrTIYe7Dg

MEDIA RELEASE 

Government working to put potholes in the past 

Northern Cape,10 August 2022 – Potholes will no longer be tolerated on South African roads. This was the message of Northern Cape Premier, Dr Zamani Saul, and the MEC of Roads and Public Works, Ms Fufe Makatong, when they launched Operation Vala Zonke, a campaign to fix potholes nationally, on the R374 just outside Barkley West on Monday.

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) will be the lead implementing agency on the pothole repair project, but will work closely with provincial and municipal roads departments throughout the country.

“Contrary to public sentiment, potholes are not only a symptom of roads that are not maintained. Like many other roads in the country, the R374, which is the main link between the R31 and the N12, has reached its design life, and the ever-increasing heavy vehicle traffic does not aid matters,” said Ms Makatong.

For 20km of the section from N12 to Barkley West, a light rehabilitation was completed in 2020, including the road being widened from 6m to 7.4m.

The 18km to Barkley West, which is the remaining section, currently shows defects which include potholes, edge breaks and crocodile cracks. The scope of the rehabilitation includes:

• Potholes repairs in the middle portion,
• In-situ recycling and stabilisation of a portion of the base and gravel shoulder (2.4m width),
• The gravel shoulders will be repaired to correct the edge drops,
• The middle portion will be treated with ralumac slurry, and
• The full road width will be sealed with double seal, using rubber modified bitumen.

“No country in the world is without potholes. How we manage it, repair and then put a long-term maintenance strategy in place will determine the eventual state of our roads. SANRAL is committed to working with the Northern Cape Provincial Government. We commend them for the quantity and quality of the data that the province submits in order for us to accurately assess the state of the roads,” said Randall Cable, SANRAL’s Western Region Manager.

The national pothole repair campaign was officially launched by Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, in Gauteng, with simultaneous provincial activations across all South Africa’s provinces, being spearheaded by the various provincial governments.

Part of the launch included the introduction of a new Pothole Web App which the public can use to report potholes in their vicinity. The App will allow the public to raise any issues (such as uploading pictures, details of the issue and get real-time location of the road where the issue is raised) on an interactive map that will show the owners of the different roads, as well as get status updates on issues raised using a pothole ticketing system.

“We are confident that this technology will allow us to engage our road users, respond to their needs and keep them informed of the progress, every step of the way,” said Dr Saul.

“Operation Vala Zonke is also geared to address youth unemployment, as we are using students who have completed training in road construction, to work on the pothole repairs, along with our internal resources,” said Ms Makatong.

Media Release

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula launches Operation Vala Zonke to fix South Africa’s potholes

Johannesburg, 8 August 20202 – Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula launched a national campaign to fix potholes on South African roads on Monday, and appealed to provinces, municipalities, the private sector and the public to get behind the campaign, which will be known as Operation Vala Zonke in Nguni or Operation Kwala Kaofela in Sesotho.

The campaign to fix potholes, which was launched on the R57 in the Emfuleni Local Municipality south of Johannesburg, will be led by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL), as an agency of the National Department of Transport. SANRAL will be working closely with provincial and municipal roads departments. “This is an important campaign that will make a huge difference in the lives of many South Africans. It will change the face of our municipal and provincial roads from pothole-riddled to an acceptable state of repair. This launch will be replicated across the country with Premiers and MECs leading Provincial launches in all nine provinces,” said Minister Mbalula. “This is not just a project to make people feel nice, but it is about real implementation. We are changing the way government does things. We are going beyond the big launches and getting things done.”

Minister Mbalula said President Cyril Ramaphosa would be visiting Emfuleni on Friday, 12 August, for a Presidential Imbizo, and it was important for people to feel the impact of projects making a difference in their lives, such as the pothole repair campaign. “All the potholes across South Africa will need to be closed and there is a lot of work to be done in this regard by SANRAL in conjunction with the MECs and Mayors throughout the country.

Minister Mbalula said the reality of potholes hit home for him when he undertook an inspection of the N12 national road in Wolmaransstad in the North-West earlier this year, as a follow-up on that province’s Presidential Imbizo held in March. “This is the reality of many communities in all our provinces. The bad roads, caused mainly by potholes, are one of the major hindrances to economic growth.” He also said service delivery was often hampered by corruption. “Corruption not only eats into the social fibre of our society, but it also impacts on the integrity of the work that government does to deliver services to our people. Often, the money is spent and the work is not done, but some civil servant or politician has become rich. To prevent corruption, Operation Vala Zonke must contain consequence management measures. Where there is corruption, it must be dealt with decisively.” Minister Mbalula said the national policy on road infrastructure was anchored in the National Development Plan “which enjoins us to invest in a strong network of economic infrastructure designed to support the country’s medium- and long-term objectives if we are to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth by 2030. Achieving this vision requires targeted development of transport, as one of the sectors that makes up the network industries”. Government’s infrastructure development plan is an important building block in revitalising South Africa’s economy and job creation, he said. “This will, in turn, exponentially improve our efforts to ensure sustainable livelihoods for many of our people. “Addressing the maintenance challenges and backlog in our road network starts with putting in place measures that will halt the deterioration of our roads. Attending to potholes as soon as possible after they occur is the most effective way to arrest this decline.” The majority of potholes, he said, are found on municipal and provincial roads. “In the main, our national roads remain pothole free, largely because of SANRAL’s proactive approach to fixing potholes. SANRAL has a policy of fixing any reported potholes within 48 hours. While national roads are overwhelmingly in a pristine condition, we recognise that provincial and municipal roads require a decisive strategy and active support to augment capacity gaps. “Potholes remain a problem and pose a danger to road users throughout the country. Potholes are particularly dangerous at night or in rainy weather. “Having said that, it does not give a justification for a drunk or dangerous drivers to blame potholes. We continue to appeal to motorists to drive safely on our roads, irrespective of whether there are potholes or not, and we will continue and do better to design and build our roads in a way that is most safe for all road users.” He said that complaints about potholes dominate social media and are a major contributor to negative sentiment towards the government and the country. “We are proud to announce that, as part of this campaign, we are launching a pothole reporting App, which the public will be able to use to report any potholes they might encounter. “The App will work in conjunction with the SANRAL pothole management App and will allow the public to raise any issues, upload pictures of potholes, provide real-time location of the road on an interactive map that will show the owners of the different roads. The app will also provide status updates on issues raised using a pothole ticketing system. “The information then gets assigned to the relevant authority, depending on where the road is, and the maintenance depot responsible for that road attends to fixing the pothole,” said Minister Mbalula. The SANRAL Pothole App is immediately available on the App Store for Apple devices and it will be available to Android users within the next few days. “Over the next six months we will closely monitor and assess the impact of the interventions. A monitoring and evaluation capability has been put in place. This will enable SANRAL to generate audit reports, which will form the basis for validation of the work undertaken and the turn-around time in attending to potholes. Through this intervention, we are raising the bar on service delivery by ensuring that the voice of the citizen is heard.” Mbalula singled out the role of the media in shining a light on government’s activities. “I am very proud of the work that the media does to ensure we deliver proper services. On behalf of society, you are holding us accountable with regards to service delivery.” He said it was critically important to involve the private sector in the pothole repair campaign. “As part of our stakeholder engagements, we will reach out to private companies, communities and other stakeholders to play their part in supporting government efforts to preserve and improve our road infrastructure. “Through partnerships with institutions of learning and the sectoral education and training authorities, we will infuse a strong skills development methodology to the intervention. A skills revolution must become a pillar of this intervention at all levels of government,” said Minister Mbalula.

MINISTER MBALULA ROLLS OUT NATIONAL VALA ZONKE COMPREHENSIVE PROGRAMME TO ADDRESS POTHOLES

The Minister of Transport, Mr. Fikile Mbalula will officially roll out a labour-intensive programme to address potholes concurrently with Members of Provincial Executives Councils (MECs) responsible for Transport across all provinces.

The main launch will take place in Sedibeng, Gauteng.

The Department of Transport is supporting District Municipalities with ‘Road Infrastructure Planning’ through the Rural Road Asset Management Systems Grant (RRAMSG), as provided for in the Division of Revenue Act (DORA).

The National Department of Transport has been hard at work intensifying interventions aimed at addressing challenges relating to road infrastructure with a comprehensive plan to address potholes across all spheres of government, with the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) leading the labour-intensive national project.

The rollout of this programme will be the implementation of an integrated, rigorous and comprehensive plan that will drive interventions to ensure that the department improves the overall condition index of roads at local and provincial authorities.

The Road Construction and Maintenance Indaba, convened in February 2022 and engagements took place with all Road Authorities.

The Roads Coordination Body was convened in May 2022, and followed by the Road Construction and Maintenance Indaba where provincial authorities detailed strategies to address potholes outlining:

• the magnitude of potholes in their area of responsibility;
• existing strategies they are using to fix them; and
• turnaround time to fix potholes.

The Minister will launch the National Vala Zonke Potholes Programme and detail these interventions.

Members of the media are invited to attend.

Details are indicated below:

 Date: Monday, 8 August 2022

 Time: 07:00a.m

 Venue: R57 Sasolburg, Vanderbijlpark.

GPS Coordinates 26°44’58.5″S 27°49’35.8″E https://goo.gl/maps/FA3rvDEhhb8kdARt5 ;

Members of the media attending the event are requested to confirm their attendance with Mr Esethu Hasane on 071 259 2442 or hasanee@dot.gov.za /Sam Monareng on 073 491 3382 or monarens@dot.gov.za.

Ends- ISSUED BY: National Department of Transport www.transport.gov.za

LinkedIn: National Department of Transport

Twitter: Dotransport

Facebook: DoTransport

Instagram: dotransport

YouTube: DoTransportVideos

 

Media enquiries: Ministry of Transport Spokesperson Lwazi Khoza +27 (81) ?766-2440

MINISTER MBALULA ROLLS OUT A NATIONAL VALA ZONKE COMPREHENSIVE
PROGRAMME TO ADDRESS POTHOLES

The Minister of Transport, Mr. Fikile Mbalula will officially roll out a labour intensive programme to address potholes concurrently with Members of Provincial Executives Councils (MECs) responsible for Transport across all provinces.

The main launch will take place in Sedibeng, Gauteng.

The Department of Transport is supporting District Municipalities with ‘Road Infrastructure Planning’ through the Rural Road Asset Management Systems Grant (RRAMSG), as provided for in the Division of Revenue Act (DORA).

The National Department of Transport has been hard at work intensifying interventions aimed at addressing challenges relating to road infrastructure with a comprehensive plan to address potholes across all spheres of government, with the South African National Roads
Agency (SANRAL) leading the labour-intensive national project.

The rollout of this programme will be the implementation of an integrated, rigorous and comprehensive plan that will drive interventions to ensure that the department improves the overall condition index of roads at local and provincial authorities.

The Road Construction and Maintenance Indaba, convened in February 2022 and engagements took place with all Road Authorities. The Roads Coordination Body was convened in May 2022, and followed by the Road Construction and Maintenance Indaba
where provincial authorities detailed strategies to address potholes outlining:

• the magnitude of potholes in their area of responsibility;
• existing strategies they are using to fix them;
• turnaround time to fix potholes;

The Minister will launch the National Vala Zonke Potholes Programme and detail these interventions.

Members of the media are invited to attend.

Details are indicated below:

Date: Monday, 8 August 2022
Time: 07:00a.m
Venue: R57 Sasolburg, Vanderbijlpark.
GPS Coordinates 26°44’58.5″S 27°49’35.8″E
https://goo.gl/maps/FA3rvDEhhb8kdARt5

Members of the media attending the event are requested to confirm their attendance with Mr Esethu Hasane on 071 259 2442 or hasanee@dot.gov.za/Sam Monareng on 073 491 3382 or monarens@dot.gov.za.
Ends-
ISSUED BY: National Department of Transport

www.transport.gov.za
LinkedIn: National Department of Transport
Twitter: Dotransport
Facebook: DoTransport
Instagram: dotransport
YouTube: DoTransportVideos

Media enquiries: Ministry of Transport Spokesperson
Lwazi Khoza +27 (81) 766-2440

Ends-

ISSUED BY:
Department of Transport

www.transport.gov.za

Inquiries: Mr. Collen Msibi. Head of Communications -082 414 5279 / msibic@dot.gov.za

www.transport.gov.za
LinkedIn: National Department of Transport
Twitter: Dotransport
Facebook: DoTransport
Instagram: dotransport
YouTube: DoTransportVideos

Welekazi Ndika, SANRAL Southern Region Stakeholder Coordinator, shared SANRAL’s road construction plans for the King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality with residents and stakeholders. The Taking SANRAL to the People stakeholder engagement was held at the Viedgesville Community Hall.

MEDIA RELEASE
Update of road construction plans shared with stakeholders and community members in Viedgesville

Eastern Cape, 3 August 2022: The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has shared ongoing and planned project details with stakeholders’ and residents of King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality.

SANRAL hosted its Taking SANRAL to the People engagement session with King Sabata Dalindyebo Local Municipality and provided an update of the Viedgesville to Mthatha project with stakeholders and residents last week (Wednesday 27 July).

This engagement was a follow-up meeting with the stakeholders and residents. SANRAL engaged community members of Maqhinebeni, Qweqwe, KwaPayne and Viedgesville villages in May this year.
Councillor Mkhanyiseli Dudumayo, the MMC for Rural and Economic Development of KSD Local Municipality, encouraged stakeholders and residents to participate in the project.

“The presence of the community is very important during these meetings. When project information is shared you understand what the project is about and know that the development is for everyone to benefit,” said Dudumayo.

Chief Bhovulengwe Mtirara, of Viedgesville, welcomed the project. “We support the project one hundred percent. This road is a high accident zone. Almost daily we will hear of pedestrians, motorists or livestock involved in an accident. We will no longer allow people to build along the road. We also welcome that SANRAL is taking over the road to Coffee Bay and we wish SANRAL could take over the maintenance and construction of more roads,” said Mtirara.

“The N2 from Viedgesville to Mthatha project will include an upgrade to a four-lane divided by the median or physical barrier to a dual carriageway, improvements to intersections and interchanges on the road, construction of agricultural underpasses, provision of pedestrian bridges, strengthening of the existing pavement, road signage and marking, and streetlights, to mention a few. The estimated allocated budget on this project is R1.1 billion and the project is still in the design phase. The main contractor has not yet been appointed,” said Welekazi Ndika, SANRAL Southern Region Stakeholder Coordinator.

“The community development project, on the other hand, will entail the construction of community access roads that are adjacent to the N2 national road. The tender for the main contractor is at the procurement stage and the estimated project value is R250 million. These projects will create much needed jobs for the local community, and they will also be trained to work on these projects,” said Ndika.

The upgrade of the National Route N2 Section 18 from Viedgesville (km 65.0) to Mthatha (km 85.0) is currently undergoing stakeholder interventions and social facilitation that will affect landowners and relocation of affected properties are underway. The consultant appointed is Gibb (Pty) Ltd. The project is in the design phase. The main contractor has not yet been appointed. The estimated project budget will be R1.1 billion, including VAT.

Vuyokazi Mayeza, SANRAL’s social facilitator on the project, explained that the PLC is still being established. “The process to start a PLC started last year and continued and the arrangement is that each area must have a business presentative as well as women and youth representatives,” said Mayeza.

Ndika also spoke about SANRAL’s 14 Point Plan, as well the formation of the Project Liaison Committees (PLC). She also spoke about the tender process for targeted enterprises, the tender evaluation process, training and skills development, and community development (CD) projects. She also shared information about SANRAL’s continuing role in infrastructure development and job creation and skills development.

Women reach great heights on Western Region slopes

Western Cape, 1 August 2022 – The start of Women’s Month today was marked by the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) prioritising women in construction, on its R400-million Western Region (Western and Northern Cape) slope stabilisation projects.

The seven slopes, which include Garies and Piekenierskloof Pass on the N7, Sir Lowry’s Pass, Hartenbos Hills and Groot Brak on the N2, as well as Riemhoogte on the N1 and Strydenburg on the N12, are undergoing extensive repairs and rehabilitation. In Groot Brak alone, SANRAL is investing R240m to stabilise the slope in a bid to prevent rockfalls and slope slipping, which have major implications for road safety.

Women also lead the charge on the projects. Deline Malgas, project liaison officer in Groot Brak, is responsible for reaching out to unemployed people in the area to help them apply for the 48 work opportunities on site.

On the R26m Piekenierskloof Pass, Mquanlla Van Wyk straps on a harness every morning and hauls thick rope to support abseilers who precariously dangle nearly 100m off the ground as they work on the slope. Her dream is to become an abseiler in the construction industry.

Gelcon Civils, a women-owned construction company, is subcontracted to do traffic accommodation on the Piekenierskloof Pass project.

SANRAL has made women’s empowerment a priority within its own ranks, in the industry and in the private sector. The company’s Head of Transformation, Ismail Essa, said SANRAL is adhering to the government’s National Development Plan on many things, including transformation, gender equality and empowerment.

“August is Women’s Month. We must never forget the sacrifices women made so that future generations could have equality. This year the theme, “Generation Equality: Realising Women’s Rights for an Equal Future”, speaks directly to what we are working toward,” said Essa.

Kamogelo Monembe manages two subcontractors who work on the N1 between Riemhoogte and Skietfontein, in the Western Cape. The 185km route is patrolled daily to check for areas that need urgent maintenance.

While she said her work is largely easy, there are difficult aspects, like ensuring the team’s work meets the highest standards.

The team is responsible for cleaning drains and culverts, vegetation control, line marking, guard rail repair, road sign repair and road patching (which is a quick fix), and temporary pothole repairs, in preparation for a team to do permanent repairs.

Potholes are a big challenge because of central Karoo rains, she said.

Monembe enjoys her job, but said she found that men often look down at her, surprised when she chairs meetings as a male civil engineer was expected.

“There aren’t many black female civil engineers, but it is time that changes. Young girls need to step up and out and be counted,” she said.

Monembe’s next challenge? Designing roads and bridges.

She falls squarely in SANRAL’s transformation offering, which has a number of goals, including increasing the number of civil engineers and female-owned businesses.

The agency has awarded bursaries and scholarships to more girls than boys.

Essa said significant strides have been made in awarding financial study opportunities to girls and young women. “In the 2020/2021 intake, 32% of recipients were male and 68% female,” he said.

While creating civil engineering education opportunities, SANRAL is also driving women empowerment. This includes the provision of contract participation goals that set targets for contracts to be awarded to women-owned companies.

Essa said opportunities abound for women and youth as SANRAL was determined to play an essential role in the post-COVID-19 economic recovery through various road infrastructure projects.

“These include projects that are crucial for national economic recovery, which is vital for the development and social transformation of the country and the creation of new jobs, especially for women and the youth.

“It will open opportunities for the development and participation of small, medium and micro-sized enterprises and stimulate the formation of large black-owned enterprises to make their mark in the infrastructure development space.”

 

MEDIA RELEASE
Upgrade of the R40 national road gets thumbs up from the Traditional Leadership in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality

Kgoši Mathibela Mokoena, chairperson of the house of traditional leaders in Mpumalanga and also President of The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA).

Bushbuckridge, 1 August 2022 – The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) hosted a stakeholder information sharing session with the traditional leadership of the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality on Thursday (28 July 2022) regarding the R40 national road upgrade. The session was followed by a site visit to inspect Section 5 of R40 national road in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality with the Executive Mayor, Councillor Sylvia Nxumalo.

SANRAL fosters collaboration with traditional leadership and consults on time regarding project-related activities from which local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) and local communities can benefit. The R40 national road upgrade will start from Hazyview to Maviljan in the City of Mbombela and Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, and from Maviljan to Arthur Seat in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.

The traditional leadership welcomed this project that will not only bring employment and subcontracting opportunities but will boost the tourism sector and lead to improved road safety in the long term.

Kgoši Mathibela Mokoena, chairperson of the house of traditional leaders in Mpumalanga and also the President of The Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa (CONTRALESA), said that these engagements are important. “The R40 national road is busy and congested, many lives have been lost because the road is not user-friendly. The arrangement by SANRAL to come to engage benefits us as we obtain the correct information firsthand,” he said.

“A lot of people will be employed when this project gets underway. Bushbuckridge is a rural municipality, more than 64% of our community is unemployed, graduates are seating at home with qualifications. We are grateful that this road will be improved and will facilitate road safety and more tourism activity in our municipality.”

The Executive Mayor of Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, Councillor Sylvia Nxumalo, added that SANRAL as an agency of the Department of Transport is demonstrating leadership and that the government is serious about service delivery.

“As Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, we are confident that the R40 national road upgrade will get the much-needed support from local people because they have been consulted. SANRAL promises to hit the ground running particularly on the matters of land acquisitions with the stakeholders from the 272 stands affected,” she said.

The majority of the land affected is tribal land. 60 hectares of land will need to be acquired. All occupants of affected sites will be engaged one-on-one starting from the first week of August 2022.

SANRAL Project Manager in the Northern Region, Vanessa Kgaphola, said this project will create jobs for local labour and training opportunities for unskilled labour in Bushbuckridge Local Municipality.

“As part of empowering the local SMMEs and the community the R40 national road upgrade will include Community Development Initiatives. SMMEs and targeted labour who meet the requirements will be involved in community development initiatives such as training opportunities,” she said.

The R40 is a link to the N4 Maputo Development Corridor which improves trade and stimulates economic development between South Africa and Mozambique. The R40 national road traverses through strategic economic hubs in Mpumalanga and Limpopo, it provides a direct

TRAFFIC ADVISORY

THE UPGRADING OF N2 FROM KWAMASHU INTERCHANGE TO UMDLOTI RIVER BRIDGE

Durban 29 July 2022 – Traffic on the National Route 2 (N2) will be disrupted between the KwaMashu Interchange and Umdloti Bridge over the next two months as concrete barriers are brought in and placed alongside the median to protect workers constructing a median barrier wall and additional lanes, the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has announced.

“The work we are doing here is part of the major upgrades on the N2 and N3. On the northbound carriageway, the road widths have already been narrowed up as far as the on and off ramps of the Mount Edgecombe Interchange. Three (3) lanes remain open on the northbound carriageway, but on the southbound carriageway, the number of lanes has been reduced to two. This is causing severe, but unavoidable, congestion during peak traffic, most especially heading south,” said Trevor Zumani, SANRAL’s Eastern Region Project Manager.

Only night-time work will be carried out from Monday 25 to Wednesday 27 August and only during off-peak hours on the southbound carriageway to the north of the Mount Edgecombe Interchange.

“From Tuesday 2 to Saturday 6 August, daytime work, between 9:00 am and 3:00 pm, will comprise the offloading and stacking of barriers alongside the median on the northbound carriageway, starting more-or-less from the Umhlanga off-ramp, heading north towards the King Shaka Airport. This may create some congestion and motorists are warned to allow extra time to get through,” said Zumani.

Night-time work will comprise the moving of the concrete barriers into their final position on the northbound carriageway, starting from approximately a kilometre north of the KwaMashu Interchange. At the same time, work will be carried out on narrowing the lanes on the southbound carriageway, from the Mount Edgecombe Interchange bridge as far as the ramps onto the N2. No major disruption is anticipated.

“From Monday 8 to Saturday 13 August, daytime work will comprise the offloading and stacking of barriers on the northbound carriageway to beyond the King Shaka Airport off-ramp. Once again, there may be some congestion and we ask road users to allow for more time for their travels,” said Zumani. From Sunday 7 to Thursday 11 August, work will continue during the night on the southbound carriageway placing the barriers in their final positions on the northbound carriageway, while carrying out the re-marking of the lines on the southbound carriageway. No serious disruption is anticipated.

From Monday 15 until Saturday 20 August, offloading and stacking of barriers on the northbound carriageway will continue during the day, north of the King Shaka off-ramp.
Night-time work will comprise the re-marking of the lanes on the southbound carriageway between the Umdloti and Mount Edgecombe Interchanges.

Key constraints include the following:

• During construction of the northbound carriageway from KwaMashu to Mount Edgecombe, a minimum of three lanes will be open at all times, but the widths of the lanes and shoulders will be noticeably reduced.
• Work on the remainder of the upgrade will have a minimum of two lanes open at all times.
• Where severe disruptions are inevitable, this will be carried out at night wherever possible.

There are a number of alternate routes to be considered, including:

• The M4 coastal route between Ballito and Durban, although this has been severely damaged in places by the recent storms,
• The Old North Coast Road, and
• The recently constructed Dumisani Makhaye Highway.

“SANRAL would like to apologise to the motoring public for any inconvenience caused during the road closure. We appeal to road users to plan their trips accordingly, especially when accessing travel hubs such as the airports. We further appeal to road users to adhere to the road signs and speed limit when approaching and travelling through the construction site,” said Zumani.