The supply of appropriate skills in local communities is a central instrument for promoting long-term growth and development of the South African economy and the construction sector at large. The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) engaged local communities and businesses of Maruleng Local Municipality in Limpopo Province to inform them of the projects they will be rolling out from February 2021 to July 2022 and how the broader community can benefit.

Speaking to SMMEs and local communities in Maruleng Local Municipality regarding the purpose of the day, SANRAL’s stakeholder engagement coordinator for the northern region, Moloko Masenya, said that these engagements with local business and community are a proactive effort that the road agency uses to bring change in the South African construction and engineering sectors. They also promote SANRAL’s contribution to broad-based black economic empowerment, skills development, and the growth of small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs).

“These projects will only succeed and potentially put the construction industry on the verge of transformation if we work hand in hand with the municipality, traditional authorities, and other stakeholders represented under the Project Liaison Committee (PLC). The opportunities these projects would bring include training of unskilled labour, creating job opportunities  for the local community , and  empowering  emerging sub-contractors under the guidance of the main contractors,” Masenya said.

SANRAL’s transformation officer Tshegare Moletsane echoes the same sentiment: “SANRAL is mindful of the impact of the construction industry, and its procurement has on the people of South Africa in terms of skills development and job creation. We accept the responsibility to provide development support to black businesses through structured development programmes and partnerships with industry players to ensure a meaningful growth of black entities in the construction industry. SANRAL will launch the Supplier Development Desk Portal to publish projects relevant to local communities and SMMEs across South Africa. This will enable them to see where the opportunities are,” Moletsane said.

SANRAL, through these four projects, will train and develop local labour to attain the relevant skills in the construction sector. This will leave a long-standing mark for SMMEs in Maruleng Local Municipality, as they will be able to bid for bigger projects in the future using the experience learned from the SANRAL projects under the mentorship of main contractors.

Expanding on the projects that are in the pipeline in Maruleng Local Municipality SANRAL’s project manager, Lawrence Chauke said that SANRAL will introduce four major projects in the Maruleng Local Municipality. Tenders will be evaluated by consultants and Project Liaison Committees (PLC) to ensure transparency and equal participation.

“The first project is the Routine Road Maintenance (RRM) of National Route R36 from Greater Tubatse Border to Greater Tzaneen Border, the R40 from Mpumalanga Border to Ba-Phalaborwa Border, R526 from Mica to Ba-Phalaborwa Border and R531 from R40 to Orpen Kruger Gate. The contract duration for this contract is 36 months. The execution of the work is estimated to start on 1 February 2021.”

Chauke adds: “The second project is the upgrading of Provincial Road D3878 from Calais to Ga-Sekororo. SANRAL will be implementing the project on behalf of Road Agency Limpopo (RAL). Construction is expected to start by July 2022.

The third project is the upgrading the four-way crossroad into a new grade-separated interchange on national route R40 and R527/D5012 at Hoedspruit. Construction is expected to start by April 2023. The fourth project is the Road Marking of National Roads in the Limpopo Province. Construction is expected to start by February 2022”.