EXTENDING economic opportunities to SMMEs across the communities where SANRAL is building is a key priority in our vision to make our construction projects more about fl esh and blood than about asphalt.
Historically, the “big guns” of the construction sector seemed to dominate the industry, often being accused of squeezing out start-ups or emerging businesses. As part of our long-term vision of economic and social inclusion, and the Horizon 2030 strategy that will take us there, we have created a platform for small businesses, especially black- and woman-owned, to derive economic benefi ts from our road construction projects.
But it’s not just about opening up contracts, said SANRAL’s Western Region Manager, Kobus van der Walt.
“Simply giving SMMEs access to contracts and work opportunities is not enough. The historical imbalances of the past have left South Africa with a huge section of society that simply does not have access to the higher education required to derive long-term benefi t from developmental opportunities. To this end, we provide active training for small business owners. These strive to enable them to plan, prepare and submit workable tenders that have been carefully calculated to ensure competitiveness, but also create an opportunity for them to profi t from the contract,” he said.
So when the Britstown community raised concerns about having access to work contracts, SANRAL and its training service providers made sure those interested in competing fairly for business were upskilled to give them the best possible opportunity to tender for work.
Geoff Lanham from the Academy for Construction Skills, who has travelled all over the country to train SMMEs, said: “Accuracy in costing and forecasting were issues that many business owners battled with and signifi cant time was spent making sure they had it fi rmly under their belt. The material was simple to understand, practical and the classes were highly interactive. This gave the small business owners the opportunity to bring very specifi c matters to the classroom and solve actual problems rather than purely hypothetical cases.”
Under the banner of “women in construction”, this training was offered to women-owned businesses during Women’s Month. Women from all over the region, including Northern Cape entrepreneurs, made the journey to Cape Town to learn, network and share their skills and experience in what many still fi nd to be a male-dominated sector. Van der Walt said: “Women-owned construction businesses are growing and adding signifi cant value to the industry, while at the same time creating employment opportunities in their communities. We remain committed to extending developmental opportunities for SMMEs and in particular womenowned business to grow and prosper in this industry.”
us a local perspective on the needs of the Northern Cape
More than R200m was allocated for special maintenance
of the N7 between Okiep and Steinkopf. What effect
has this project had on the area?
That section of the road used to be incredibly
narrow. We are highly pleased with the upgrade
(the road was widened on both sides), which
ensured much safer passage, particularly
for trucks and other heavy vehicles. It also
ensures a more pleasant driving experience,
specifi cally in the valuable tourist market.
The increase in freight traffi c is, of course,
always a good thing in terms of encouraging
investment into our region.
The widening of the bridge over the
Orange River is set to be completed
before winter. This project carries a
budget of nearly R100m. Have you seen a
signifi cant impact on local labour?
We are pleased that SANRAL is recognising
the importance of using the local labour market.
The Northern Cape has the highest unemployment
fi gures in our country and every effort needs to be made
to address that at scale. We are still not seeing enough
being done to extend work opportunities to local labourers
and local SMMEs.
SANRAL is a major advocate of advancing work opportunities to
locals whenever construction work passes through their towns.
What is the Chamber doing to encourage other businesses
to support the local labour market?
As a channel that connects businesses, we will always seek
to advance developmental opportunities to the local
labour market. They make up a huge cohort of our
society and as captains of industry we need to fi nd more
ways to connect them to economic opportunities. As a
whole, our local labour is still largely ‘out in the cold’.
We will continue to lobby not only for their training
and development, but also for them to access gainful
employment, even if it is only in short bursts at a time.
In the interest of road safety, SANRAL is upgrading
three major intersections on the R31 Main Road.
How costly are motor vehicle accidents to the
regional economy?
I don’t have accurate fi gures to this end, but judging by
the frequency of fatal crashes in the region – nearly every
weekend – the cost is huge. More importantly, the loss of life
is what we cannot put a price on. We welcome the upgrades
of those intersections into traffi c circles, which we agree are less
hazardous. And we appeal to road users to spare a thought not only
for their own safety, but also that of other road users. The additional lighting
is another major improvement for which we are very grateful.