MEC for Transport in Gauteng Kedibone Diale-Tlabela has appealed for divine intervention in the construction and successful completion of Road K175 in Bronkhorstspruit.
The construction of the road will cost the provincial government R120 million.
Diale-Tlabela’s statement is based in the fact that there are criminal elements in every community which surface to cause work stoppages and disruptions whenever there is a government infrastructure development project that is underway in any given community.
Speaking at the sod turning ceremony for the road on Thursday in Bronkhorstspruit, Diale Tlabela said the criminal elements, known as construction mafias, always wait for a project to be initiated and would then come and demand a stake in that project.
“People must come on board during the early stages of the project so that we can see how we can accommodate them in any given project,” she said.
“This will help avoid disruptions and allow the government to come back and do more projects in any given area,” said Diale-Tlabela.
She said the government understands that due to issues of unemployment and inequality, there are expectations by members of the community to benefit in any infrastructure development project either in terms of jobs or subcontracts.
She stressed that these benefits can only be acquired through competition with other interested parties and advised community and to engage in these competition processes so as to benefit duly.
“For a share in infrastructure development projects, we conduct on-site stakeholder engagement meetings with the main contractor and thereafter award a subcontract to some members of the community,” she said.
“Some areas are notorious for work disruptions on projects and loss of life due to disputes over a share in infrastructure development projects,” lamented Diale-Tlabela.
But Diale-Tlabela expressed confidence in the fact that the Bronkhorstspruit area is a closely-knit area with local chiefs and councillors being firmly in charge of the area.
She said there has been wider stakeholder engagements for the road project and as a result they were not anticipating any challenges that would disrupt work there.
“We are praying to God that this project runs through without disruptions and are able to deliver it within the stipulated 14 months and the R120 million budget,” said Diale-Tlabela.
She announced that the contract of the original main contractor has been terminated due to non-compliance with procurement processes set by her department.
The road project is anticipated to be completed within 14 months and entails installation of streetlights, visibility of road marks, storm water drainage and upgrading of the road.
“Upgrading the road will enhance free flow of traffic to avoid accidents,” she said.
The MEC implored the local community to take good care of the anticipated new road and not burn tyres on it when engaging in service delivery protests.
She pointed out that since there were unemployment challenges in the Bronkhorstspruit area, the road development project will bring about economic growth and the much-needed jobs to the area, including opportunities for SMMEs.
“We hope that in 14 months’ time we will be able to come back to this place to hand the project to the local community of Bronkhorstspruit,” she said.
Parliamentary Constituency Office official Khabonina Mabena thanked the MEC for the Road K175 initiative and expressed trust in her and said the MEC always delivers on her promises.
“By bringing this road development project to the area you have helped many local youths to be employed and be able to put food on the table, thus chasing hunger away,” said Mabena.
She implored the MEC to make sure that there doesn’t arise a situation where it would be announced that there is no longer money available to carry forward with the project while the project is still incomplete.
Official of the Greater Bronkhorstspruit Taxi Association Koos Msiza expressed his joy regarding the development of the road because that will benefit taxi operators immensely.
“As taxi operators we use the K175 road a lot and we are lucky to have it being revamped as this will bring jobs to the locals and when locals have jobs, we as taxi operators will have more customers,” he said.
Contracts manager of Shonisani Rambau construction company Jacob Ncube expressed joy at his company’s involved in the rehabilitation of the road and announced that they haven’t had challenges in procuring labour and requisite service providers in the community so far.
He said they were looking forward to a fruitful and productive engagement and working relationship with the local community.
“To those who won’t toe the line and come with disruptive tendencies, our advice to them would be to follow proper protocols or else we will refer them to the relevant authorities,” he said.