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Durban - Some construction workers retrenched after the completion of World Cup stadiums will be employed to build roads, bridges and dams worth R700bn, the transport minister said on Monday.
“People who were involved in the construction of stadiums and other 2010 projects will be absorbed in the next three years,” said Minister Sbu Ndebele at the official opening of the R151m train station at the Moses Mabhida Stadium in Durban.
He said R700bn would be used in the next three years to build roads, bridges and dams.
“What we have spent on the infrastructure for the World Cup is nothing. We will be involved in construction like we have never before,” he said.
He said his predecessors had done a lot of work preparing for major projects and his job was to take road infrastructure projects further. Among the major projects in the pipeline was the construction of a high speed train between Johannesburg and Durban.
“The development of the fast train is there in our vision,” he said.
He said they would ask specialists in China and Germany to help them implement it.
Passenger Rail Agency of SA CEO Lucky Montana said at the launch they would soon have a train travelling between Pietermaritzburg and Durban.
He said in addition to the just over R151m spent on building the Moses Mabhida Stadium station, they had spent R100m upgrading other stations in Umlazi and KwaMashu.
The building of the Moses Mabhida station began in July last year and it would be used during the World Cup.
It would also be used by rugby supporters going to Absa stadium which is just a stone's throw away from the new Moses Mabhida stadium.
Previously soccer and rugby supporters used to jump off at Durban station and walk more than a kilometre to the stadiums.
The station’s control centre is linked via a highly efficient and reliable fibre cable. Train control and scheduling is controlled via the latest integrated communication system and the station access is controlled by speed gates linked to CCTVs.
Ethekwini municipality mayor Obed Mlaba said it would be important to maintain the infrastructure after the World Cup.
“I am very confident that the transport division will provide a window for opportunity beyond 2010,” Mlaba said.
KwaZulu-Natal transport MEC Willies Mchunu was also at the opening.
- Sapa