In the Sundays River municipality of the Eastern Cape, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has organized several roadway construction projects totaling R1.8 billion. “In the Eastern Cape, we manage 4 952 km of our 22 214 km national road network. Our operations on the stretch of road that traverses the Sundays River municipality will create over 900 job opportunities over the next five years,” says Sanral chairperson Themba Mhambi.
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The R740-million upgrade of the R335 from Motherwell to Addo is estimated to take 43 months to complete and create 350 new jobs, with 30 to 35 local small, medium-sized, and microenterprises (SMMEs) benefiting. The R270-million upgrade of the R336 between Kirkwood and Addo is expected to take two years to complete and will open up more than 220 job opportunities and benefit 40 SMMEs.
Phase 1 Projects
Phase 1 of the R72-million special maintenance project of the R355 from the Zuurberg Intersection to the Nguni canal has begun, with 50 to 100 available roles and 10 to 15 SMMEs subcontracted to help with the project. In addition, in February, a R45-million unique upkeep project of the R75 from the Kirkwood Intersection to Wolwefontein will commence and end in December 2022.
Phase 2 Projects
Phase 2 projects include the R450-million upgrade of the R335 from Motherwell to Addo, which is projected to take 27 months to complete. It is predicted that 250 posts will become available. The R310-million upgrade of the R336 between Kirkwood and Addo will take more than 30 months to complete and is expected to create more than 210 job openings, with 50 SMMEs benefiting.
Another phase 2 project-special support project is in the planning stages. The project is estimated to cost R87-million and will be constructed on the R342 from Nguni River Lodge to Paterson. The project is also anticipated to create 50 to 100 local jobs, with 10 to 15 SMMEs benefiting from it.
