HELLO FREE STATE 2018

SAM MASHININI

The Free State is landlocked, surrounded by six other provinces and the mountain kingdom of Lesotho, so a high-class network of roads is crucial for the region’s socio-economic survival. By linking producers to markets, workers to jobs, learners and students to schools, and the sick to hospitals, roads are the arteries that carry the lifeblood of the province.

The Free State department of police, roads and transport (DPRT) is responsible for the promotion of mobility in the province to stimulate economic growth.

The DPRT is particularly responsible for provincial roads infrastructure and budgeted R2.7bn for the 2017/18 financial year, with the biggest chunk going towards the improvement of the roads.

More than R1.2bn has been set aside for road maintenance. Three critical roads – the Bultfontein/ Welkom, Bethlehem/Reitz and Jim Fouche/Deneysville roads – are being milled and resealed to enhance their lifespan. Furthermore, roads in all five districts are being re-graveled.

Many sections of the national roads across the Free State are undergoing major upgrade and routine road maintenance by SANRAL, which has a distinct mandate – to finance, improve, manage and maintain the national road network.

SANRAL is pouring billions of rands into the Free State’s major routes to ensure they are safe and convenient for pedestrians and motorists.

The two-lane freeway between Trompsburg and Fonteintjie was recently completed at an investment of R413m. Other roads that have been recently upgraded are Sydenham to Glen Lyon; Kroonstad South to Westleigh; Koppies to Vaal Toll Plaza; Reddersburg to Rustfontein and Bloemspruit to Sannaspos. A truck-stop has also been constructed at the Maseru border post.

Major national roads in the province are also being upgraded and include Winburg South to Winburg Station; Ventersburg to Holfontein; Holfontein to Kroonstad and Harrismith to Industriqwa.

The upgrade of the N6 route between Smithfield and Rouxville is well under way and entails improving road alignment for better safety, as well as some capacity improvements. The Kroonstad Traffic Control Centre is also being upgraded.

In its efforts to address joblessness and poverty, the DPRT has embarked on a Contractor Development Programme to support emerging contractors on road building projects throughout the province, with a special emphasis on youth and women empowerment.

A grass-cutting programme was also initiated and, to date, 36 grass-cutting learner contractors have been appointed and trained, including nine women and 14 youths.

The Contractor Development and grass-cutting programmes have created approximately 1 400 job opportunities.

It is noteworthy that all SANRAL and DPRT projects include contract participation goals to ensure that the construction industry plays a role in job creation, improving the quality of life for the poor and unemployed. Contractors must create jobs in the communities that live close to their projects.

Millions of rands have already been earned by SMMEs, thousands of sustainable jobs have been created, training has been provided to unskilled workers and particular emphasis has been placed on ensuring that women, youth and disabled people are provided with opportunities to benefit from DPRT projects.

Sam Mashinini is the Free State MEC
for Police, Roads and Transport

SKHUMBUZO MACOZOMA

One of the most significant decisions taken by South Africa’s first democratic government, under the leadership of President Nelson Mandela, was to focus on infrastructure to bring development, growth and opportunity to the majority of the country’s citizens, who had been excluded from the economy.

In 1998 he addressed a municipal infrastructure summit in the Free State, where he spoke passionately about his government’s “difficult task of reconstructing our shattered society and providing the most basic of services to our people” – schools, housing, clinics and roads.

In that same year, he took a visionary decision to establish a national roads agency – SANRAL – with the primary mandate to plan, manage and maintain the national road network and to build it into a national asset that serves all communities and provides access to opportunities and development.

SANRAL’s road to success should be measured against its achievements in meeting the high expectations set by the founders of our democracy and, indeed, in its ability to go beyond

THE ROAD AHEAD

this mandate and make a positive impact on the lives of millions of South Africans.

Two decades later, in the year in which our country, along with the rest of the world, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the birth of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, SANRAL has embarked on a new stage of its journey.

Its commitment to serve South Africa through the delivery of a world-class road network remains undiminished, but it is also taking stock of the modern infrastructure environment and the changing needs of South Africa within the social, economic and regional contexts.

From its establishment in 1998, SANRAL set its goals very high. In the ensuing years, the national road network has grown steadily, linking urban and rural communities and improving connections between the country and its neighbours.

This has contributed to mobility and supported economic growth objectives. It offers access to opportunities for communities and will always be a major catalyst for growth in critical sectors of the economy such as trade, commerce, agriculture and tourism.

But SANRAL’s role in society stretches beyond the provision of concrete and tarmac. As a primary national asset, we have embraced the contribution we can make to building a knowledge economy – in line with Madiba’s own conviction that education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world.

Within the agency itself, SANRAL recognises that its people are its most valuable assets. Employees are given ample opportunities for

career development and skills training and SANRAL recognises the pivotal role it plays to develop the next generation of engineers, artisans and skilled professionals for the broader construction and engineering sector.

One of the major driving forces for SANRAL at the start of its third decade is to accelerate the transformation of the construction and engineering sectors through the allocation of work packages to SMMEs, blackowned and women-owned enterprises. This will be sustained through training and skills development programmes that will ensure such enterprises can progress to become contractors with the capacity to create more jobs in the sector.

SANRAL’s journey over the past two decades has not been an easy one. The road ahead remains full of challenges and opportunities. But it will be guided by a clear vision and strategy – Horizon 2030. Through its new strategy, SANRAL wants to contribute to the building of a capable and developmental state that can drive economic growth through the provision and maintenance of critical infrastructure.

The vision Nelson Mandela had for South Africa when he engineered the democratic transition in 1994 eventually culminated in the adoption of the National Development Plan – a broad-based and comprehensive strategy to draw on the energies of South Africa’s people and build an inclusive economy.

SANRAL will continue to be a trusted partner in growth for all South Africans on this road to success.

Skhumbuzo Macozoma is SANRAL’s CEO