GRAAFF-REINET NEWS - Residents of the greater Graaff-Reinet are set to benefit from a road infrastructure development project on the R63 outside Graaff-Reinet.
The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) announced the project on 5 July, saying that the work will be done at Ouberg Pass Cutting in the Dr Beyers Naudé Local Municipality (DBNLM).
Nature of the project
Sanral announced its commitment to enhancing road safety and socio-economic benefits in the form of job opportunities for local labourers and subcontracting of targeted enterprises.
A significant portion of the project’s budget is dedicated to empowering local labour and targeted enterprises. A minimum of 6% of the project will be allocated to targeted labour, prioritising women, youth, people with disabilities and military veterans. A minimum of 30% of the final contract value is earmarked for targeted enterprises, including a minimum of 2% for CIDB 1 and 2 grading and another 2% for CIDB 3 and 4 grading. Sanral informed SMMEs that it will also provide pre-tender training. This will enable SMMEs to compile tender documents without payment to third parties and manage their projects on site.
Contract engineer Johan Swanepoel said the project is highly specialised and a lot of blasting should be expected. “There are not a lot of contractors who specialise in slope stabilisation. We will create a drop zone for rocks falling from the top. The road needs to be open for traffic 24 hours even if it’s only one lane, except during blasting,” he said.
The project involves the installation of a rockfall netting secured by rock dowels in a specified arrangement, securing large protruding and smaller unstable boulders, and application of shotcrete over layers within the mudstone and dolerite that show evidence of disintegration. Catch fences will also be installed at the slope summit.
Calls for cooperation
The project has a contract period of 24 months, including a three-month mobilisation period. DBNLM Mayor Willem Safers called for the cooperation of the people whenever policies are implemented. “Sanral has policies and I’m pleading with Sanral to implement your policies - and everyone, whether they are from the municipality or members of an SMME, must comply. If we establish structures for communication or coordination, let’s use them and not deviate because if we do, trouble starts,” he said.
Safers said DBNLM is the third largest municipality, with an area covering hundreds of kilometres of mostly gravel roads, from Graaff-Reinet to Willowmore, Baviaanskloof and Nieu-Bethesda. "Whenever you’re going to employ, take the vastness of this municipality into consideration,” he said.
Sanral stakeholder relations coordinator for the Southern Region, Welekazi Ndika, explained the principles for project liaison and sourcing of labour in great length. “Your labour should be managed because if you don’t, it eats into your profits. I hear some SMMEs don’t pay their labourers bargaining council rates of R41,75 per hour. If you don’t do that, you’ll be in breach. Don’t rob your labourers, it will come back to bite you.”
The community was cautioned against stalling the project and the financial implications it would bring. “Don’t drag Sanral into your community issues,” said Ndika. “The problems of the previous projects should also not be brought into this one because this is a new project with a new project manager.”
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