Residents of Klerksdorp in the North West can look forward to a safer road
environment, thanks to newly developed infrastructure by SANRAL.
In June 2016, the national roads agency started the construction
of pedestrian facilities along section 15 of the N12 near the Jouberton and
Alabama townships in Klerksdorp.
The project, worth approximately R51m, is for the construction of concrete
sidewalks and kerbing, fencing off a section of the road, minor capacity
improvements and drainage, as well as improvements to four existing
intersections.
SANRAL Project Manager Lawrence Chauke believes that changes in land
use, urban development and the spatial formation of cities and towns force
pedestrians to cross or walk along the national roads, which puts them at risk.
SANRAL has to strike a balance between the safety of pedestrians and the
primary use and effectiveness of the national road network.
“The safety of pedestrians is important to us and we prioritise it in all our
infrastructure,” he said.
SANRAL appeals to community members to make use of the new facilities
and to be safe on the roads.
Deep in northern KwaZulu-Natal,
communities are enjoying the
safety and utility of SANRAL
infrastructure every day – from
sidewalks and retaining walls, to busand
taxi lay-bys and access roads to
schools.
Approximately 12km of concrete
walkways have been built on both sides
of a section of the R22 between the
town of Manguzi and the Mozambique
border. The project, worth about
R14.4m, started in November 2015 and
was completed in June 2017.
Eastern Region Project Manager
Ridhwaan Mahomed said that before
work started on the project, there had
been several vehicle and pedestrian
incidents.
“Pedestrians, mostly young pupils
on their way to and from school, could
be seen walking within the motorised
vehicle lanes. This is very risky.”
The project area was largely rural and
many local residents had struggled to
find paying jobs to sustain themselves before the project started.
This project presented a valuable source
of employment. Some R2.4m was
paid in salaries for local labour on the
project. Four local subcontractors were
employed and were paid a total of
R1.3m.
Rural areas often have a high number
of unskilled individuals. On this project,
local people were trained and 60 skills
training certificates were issued at an
investment of R277 240.
“Roads exist to connect
communities, to open new horizons,
to bring people to opportunities and
opportunities to people,” Mahomed
said.
“SANRAL has always strived to
support the government’s efforts to
push back the frontiers of poverty
and improve the lives of citizens by
investing in community development in
all its projects.”
Thokozani Mbuyisa, owner of Mgadla
Trading, which was one of the SMMEs
employed, said that he was grateful
for the opportunity to work on this
SANRAL project.
APR/MAY ‘18 | ISSUE 19 