Delays on Mtentu Bridge Project
In the last quarter of 2018, SANRAL’s flagship N2WCR project hit a speedbump when a section of the project was brought to an abrupt halt. The Mtentu Bridge construction site was summarily closed and all work discontinued due to unhappiness in the community.
A petition received by SANRAL from the Amadiba village and Jama village communities in early November outlined a list of demands ranging from job opportunities, subcontracting of local small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs), to a call for the disbandment of the local Project Liaison Committee (PLC).
These developments called for intense engagements between SANRAL and all affected stakeholders - local government, local business chambers, traditional leadership, the contractor and the community of Amadiba and Jama villages. Ongoing engagements took place between November last year and the end of January 2019.
Given the magnitude of this National Strategic Infrastructure Project (SIP), as well as the cost to the taxpayer of approximately half a million-rand loss per day for every day of stoppage, the matter was referred by SANRAL to the leadership of both national and provincial government.
A meeting between the Minister of Transport, the Eastern Cape Premier and the MEC for Transport, Safety and Liaison, Weziwe Tikana, set the political intervention in
motion – withsenior provincial political leadership delegated to engage stakeholders in the Wild Coast and find a resolution to the impasse.
Following several weeks of intense engagements, consensus was reached on a way forward during an engagement held in the first week of January 2019, led by Transport MEC Weziwe Tikana and SANRAL Board Chair, Themba Mhambi.
The project, however, suffered further delays, after the primary contractor decided to suspend construction activities. SANRAL disputes the reasons given for the work stoppage and the matter is currently before the courts. SANRAL, as well as the national and provincial governments, remain committed to the project and trust that the issue will be speedily resolved to enable construction work to proceed.
RRM provides work for more than 400
During the 2018/19 financial year, to date, work has been provided to 190 SMMEs ranging from CIDB 1 to 6 CE Sub-Contractors, with a total spend on the SMMEs of R193m. These contracts also provided work to 425 workers and the wages paid to the workers totalled R52m.
In the Southern Region there are about 19 routine road maintenance contracts which look after: pavement layer repairs, crack sealing and patching of asphalt pavements, cleaning of all drainage structures, including removal of grass and debris from grids, clearing bridge drainage ports and scuppers, repairing damaged fencing, clearing refuse from the road reserve, lay-byes and interchanges, repairing damaged road signs, repairing damaged guardrails, regular mowing of grass in the road reserve including the median and emergency assistance at accident scenes.
The work is done through management contractors who utilise smaller SMMEs to execute the work.
Joseph Douw, owner of Ultramatix Twelve CC, employs 32 staff and has three projects in the Eastern Cape. "I've been working on SANRAL projects since 2001. Over the past 19 years I have seen SANRAL developing local SMMEs," said Douw.
“My main goal is to provide work for unemployed people, and to maintain SANRAL’s roads to the best of my ability. I would like to upgrade my CIDB rating on SANRAL’s project,” Douw concluded.
Rochelle Masoling’s Company, La Serve Trading Enterprise, employs between 12 and 17 people on her projects, depending on the work that is required.
Her main goal is to ensure a fixed income for her current workforce. “This will help to stabilise incomes in their households, and also contribute towards the local charity foundations in my area,” she said.
Alfred Joloza from Duna Construction and Building CC, employs between 15 and 20 people depending on the workload.
"My goal is to see my company grow and expand into a main contractor one day. Also, I want to help the communities in the vicinity where I am working, to uplift them and help impoverished people to provide meals on their tables at night. This would assist their children to perhaps get an education if the parents can have a job to pay for the studies," Joloza said.
BUILDING SOUTH AFRICA THROUGH BETTER ROADS
HELLO EASTERN CAPE 2019