The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) has revealed that the long-awaited N2 road project from Viedgesville to Mthatha was now in the final stages of design and an invitation to tender for the project would be advertised before the end of the year.
This was revealed during a roundtable meeting between SANRAL and the King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) business fraternity, held at the Rotary Stadium in Ngangelizwe Township, Mthatha, on April 12.
The road project has a budget of R1.1 billion with 30% of that amount earmarked to benefit small, micro, and medium enterprises (SMMEs) in the KSD Local Municipality.
The project entails construction of dual carriage lanes to and from Viedgesvile to Ultra City, as well as a number of interchanges, among other things.
A further R200 million in community development projects, linked to the N2 Viedgesville to Mthatha road project, is also on the cards.
SANRAL is also planning to construct a R1.2 billion N2 road bypass, which is currently in the design phase with construction scheduled to start in 2025.
“Construction of the Bhaziya to Mthatha Airport project is currently underway. About R237 million has been allocated for the project, which is anticipated to be completed in November this year,” said SANRAL southern region project manager, Athi Kiviet.
“Construction of the new Mthatha bypass on the National Route N2 is currently in the assessment stage. Over R1 billion has been invested for this project.
“In addition, we also have a community development project linked to the N2 Viedgesville to Mthatha project in the pipeline. The estimated budget for this project is R200 million,” Kiviet said.
KSD Municipality Executive Mayor, Nyaniso Nelani, urged all stakeholders to work together to make sure that the planned road projects become a reality.
“It is high time that we remove any stumbling blocks to these projects to realise the investment they are bringing to our municipality. As the municipality, we want to see growth and development and these road projects will help us in achieving that,” Nelani said.
Touching on SANRAL’s transformation endeavours, SANRAL southern region transformation officer, Thandile Makwabe, said the agency would continue to optimise using local resources on its projects, ensuring that local communities continue to benefit.
“Guided by our transformation policy, at SANRAL, we always ensure that there is transparency and equal opportunity for local community members on our projects.
“We continue to ensure that there is maximum participation of women, youth, people with disabilities and military veterans, to mention but a few, on our projects. All of this is done to ensure that local resources and local community members benefit from SANRAL projects,” he said.
