TRAINING and skills development initiatives advanced members of the local communities who worked on the R61 Mthatha to Nqgeleni project in the Eastern Cape.
The project, which forms part of a bigger master plan for tourism and other long-term mega projects in the Eastern Cape, created work opportunities for 60 small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) of which 48 were black-owned entities. There were 628 job opportunities created.
Sixteen Walter Sisulu University students from the community also gained on-site experiential training to obtain their diploma qualification.

The project created work for 60 small, medium and micro enterprises
(SMMEs)

48 SMMEs were black-owned entities.

628 job opportunities were created, of which 541(86%) were taken up by men and 87 (14%) by women and further broken down into 328 youth (52%).

“Local SMMEs were mentored in the construction of relocation houses to National Home Builders Registration Council (NHBRC) standards and participated in several courses that include construction tendering, basic computer literacy skills, site administration and monitoring. The workers have been provided with, among others, road safety and environmental awareness training,” said Thabiso Ngozwana, SANRAL Project Manager.
The R550m project commenced on 16 September 2013 and was finalised on 8 September 2017. “I attended the entrepreneurship course and it was an eye-opener for me. The course has helped me a lot. I am able to deal with payments and record the work that we worked on,” said Joshua Mbangeleli owner of Ayabulela Genera Trading. Mbangeleli employed 14 people to work on the project. Their tasks included concrete works – working on storm water pipes, building walkways, stone pitching, drop-inlets and outlets.
“The road is much safer to use now. Community members can use underpasses and walkways instead of crossing over the R61,” Mbangeleli said.

The project included the construction of a new 7.3km dual carriageway between Mthatha and the turn-off to Ngqeleni. A new eastbound carriageway was constructed, and significant improvements were made to the westbound carriageway.
“One of the successes is that the project has already injected a range of benefits to members living in villages from Mthatha to Ngqeleni,” Ngozwana said.
SANRAL delivered 31 new replacement houses to residents whose dwellings fell under the construction footprint, and in the process eradicated poorly constructed structure homes.
As part of this road safety initiative, unsafe intersections were closed, a new interchange at Ngqeleni turn-off was built and formalised, and channelled intersections were constructed.
Six new bridges and two agricultural underpass culverts were also constructed to help reduce the number of road incidents caused by stray animals on this national road.
The project also links with other programmes including the conversion of Sprigg Street and Madeira Street in Mthatha’s Central Business District (CBD) into one-way system to help improve traffic flow.

TRAINING PLAYS AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN SHAPING SMMES

There is more to running a business than just building a road, according to Marlize Nel-Verwey SANRAL Southern Region project manager.
“It is important for SMMEs to know how a business fits together. Through our training programmes we aim to expose the SMMEs to as much as possible in the industry.”
Although 23% of the national road network is in the Eastern Cape, 35% of SANRAL’s SMME training over the past two financial years took place in this pr ovince. In this current financial year SANRAL has 21 Community Development (CD) projects under construction of which 15 (71%) are in the Eastern Cape.
“SANRAL runs continuous training for SMMEs in the Southern Region before and during a project,” Nel-Verwey said.
SANRAL has been running training programmes for SMMEs since its inception in 1998. These have become more focused since 2006 and have escalated since 2010.