SANRAL is a partner in growth
Mpumalanga occupies a pivotal position in Southern Africa and provincial initiatives to accelerate economic growth will have a ripple effect on the entire region.
None of these initiatives would be possible without a well-designed and well-maintained primary road network. The N4 national road, which bisects our province and links Mpumalanga with Gauteng and our neighbours in Mozambique, is a vital artery. It sustains our economy and contributes towards growth, job creation and the development of communities. Our province enjoys a productive and beneficial relationship with SANRAL and we especially welcome the opportunity to reach a wider section of our citizens through the publication of Hello Mpumalanga.
The national roads agency’s new strategic direction dovetails perfectly with our department’s vision to create an integrated transport system and infrastructure that promotes socio-economic development. As a government department, public works, roads and transport has identified infrastructure as the catalyst that will unleash opportunities for growth within Mpumalanga.
Earlier this year, the provincial government provided details about a R7.1bn investment in infrastructure that will form the mainstay of our growth initiatives in the coming years. Since 2009, we have completed 22 strategic infrastructure projects and taken proactive steps to preserve and maintain our road assets.
Our road network has improved mobility and provided access for people who live far from jobs and economic opportunities because of apartheid-era spatial planning. New transport infrastructure connects
communities, offers access to our beautiful tourism and heritage sites and facilitates the movement of goods and products that sustain our agricultural and commercial sectors.
SANRAL’s redevelopment of the Moloto Road (R573) is a core component of our provincial objective to build a functional and efficient Moloto development corridor. We especially welcome the commitment by SANRAL to draw into the construction programme local emerging enterprises and businesses owned by black people, women and the youth. I am convinced that this development can become a model for the transformation of the wider construction and engineering sectors – and contribute immensely to job creation and enterprise development in our province.
We commend SANRAL’s continuous efforts to make our roads safer through the provision of well-designed road infrastructure and safety education aimed at broader communities. I trust that Hello Mpumalanga will serve to communicate just how integral the national roads agency’s work is to our continued economic development.
Sasekani Manzini is the MEC
for Public Works, Roads and Transport
Mpumalanga finds itself at the start of a pivotal stage in its economic growth trajectory. Critical announcements on infrastructure and development initiatives made in the 2018 state of the province address and budget have significant potential to transform the economy of the region. As a province you recognise the value of roads to improve mobility and access to opportunities. Many of the new envisaged developments, such as the establishment of liberation heritage routes, new agricultural hubs and a revitalised mining sector, will depend on the quality of the primary road network maintained by SANRAL.
In addition, keeping the N4 in excellent condition also underlines our commitment to strengthen trade and social relations between Mpumalanga and Mozambique, and ensure rapid and seamless mobility.
SANRAL has been a reliable partner of the people and the government of Mpumalanga for many years and we intend to build on this relationship in the period to come. In this regard, we acknowledge the recognition that the province has given to SANRAL and our partnership, in its recently published book on infrastructure projects. In this Hello Mpumalanga, an annual that is now in its second edition, we introduce you to some of the projects under way that will, no doubt, help to shape the course of the province’s future.
Within SANRAL, we have also initiated a process of
transformation through which we would like to make a
larger impact on job creation, enterprise development
and skills transfer in the construction projects that we
are responsible for.
This will lead to more jobs being created within
communities close to construction activities and a larger
role for smaller contractors, emerging enterprises and
companies owned by black people, women, the youth
and the disabled. In recent months, we have enjoyed
valuable opportunities to meet with communities and
stakeholders in Mpumalanga, to share our strategy,
Horizon 2030, and our draft Transformation Policy.
I’d like to welcome Progress Hlahla, who will now head up our Northern Region, which includes Mpumalanga. The province of the rising sun is turning into a province of rising opportunities for growth and development, with a rising ability to build a sustainable economy that will contribute to better quality of life for all its people. SANRAL is looking forward to going on this journey with the people of Mpumalanga.
Skhumbuzo Macozoma is SANRAL’s CEO