Northern Cape Premier Dr Zamani Saul, together with the MEC for Roads and Public Works, Fufe Makatong, and relevant road construction stakeholders recently launched the provincial leg of Operation Vala Zonke, aimed at fixing roads in the Province.
THE PREMIER of the Northern Cape, Dr Zamani Saul, together with the MEC for Roads and Public Works, Fufe Makatong, and relevant road construction stakeholders recently launched the provincial leg of Operation Vala Zonke, aimed at fixing roads in the Province.
The launch took place on the R357 near Barkly West earlier this week as part of the national programme rolled out by Minister Fikile Mbalula.
The Department of Transport is supporting district municipalities with road infrastructure planning through the Rural Road Asset Management Systems Grant (RRAMSG).
The department has been hard at work intensifying interventions aimed at addressing challenges relating to road infrastructure. This includes a comprehensive plan to address the issue of potholes, with the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) leading the labour-intensive project.
The operation comes two weeks after the provincial government launched a state-owned construction company aimed at doing repairs on all roads throughout the Province.
Although the country’s national roads are in good condition, provincial and municipal roads need a decisive strategy.
It is hoped that more than 30,000 square metres of potholes will be fixed in the current financial year, which ends in March 2023.
During the launch, teams interacted with some of the truck drivers and encouraged them to avoid the R357 and instead use the R31.
Sanral is one of the key stakeholders in the project and will open an office in Kimberley.
Saul said that heavily loaded trucks are to blame for the poor condition of some of the roads and made a commitment that the Province will work on increasing the rail capacity of Transnet.
He highlighted that the decision of Sanral to open offices in Kimberley will enable them to respond better to road network maintenance.
“Last week we launched the massive R7 billion investment project in Gamsberg where 2,500 jobs are expected to be created,” said Saul.
“Last month we got a concrete commitment from Transnet around the construction of the Boegoe Bay port and rail infrastructure with a R13 billion investment and 6,000 job opportunities.”
With regards to Operation Vala Zonke, Makatong explained that the Province will first focus on the most problematic areas.
