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Ndebele: Road repairs will create jobs

Cape Town - Provinces have been allocated R6.4bn in this financial year for road maintenance and upgrades and this should create more than 64 000 jobs, said Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on Thursday.

Addressing the National Council of Provinces, Ndebele said the department of transport had been allocated R22bn over the three-year medium-term expenditure framework cycle for road maintenance and upgrades that would use labour-intensive methods to create as many jobs as possible.

He said that extensive monitoring of road conditions was needed so that "just-in-time road maintenance" could be carried out, which would lead to improved efficiency and less waste.

"This will be achieved by the road asset management systems (RAMS) and introducing the Know your network programme, which consists of regional engineers in all provinces monitoring daily road conditions, including any possible overnight damage," he said.

Ndebele said the department of transport's flagship project - S'hamba Sonke (Moving Together) - had resulted in the launch of a new roads upgrade and maintenance initiative to fix and upgrade SA's entire secondary road network.

"The programme will create new opportunities for emerging contractors and jobs across the country. In addition, 68 675 jobs, skilled and semi-skilled, will be created through this programme," he said.

The upgrades to the roads would be in the rehabilitation of key arterial routes in support of the rural economy; prioritising the use of labour absorptive construction methods; fixing potholes; and creating access roads to schools and clinics and public social infrastructure.

Ndebele said business plans had been received from all provinces and they had agreed to ensure implementation and monitoring of the programme.

He said he would report quarterly to the National Treasury, while the provinces would report to the department of transport monthly.

SA's road network comprises 750 000km, of which 593 000km is a gravel network managed by the provinces, metros and municipalities; 54 000km is paved and managed across all spheres of government; and 140 000km was still to be proclaimed as belonging to the government. 
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