MEC Rachoene accompanies Minister Creecy during R573 Road project inspection

MARBLE HALL – Limpopo MEC for Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure, Ernest Rachoene, on 2 November, joined the Minister of Transport, Barbara Creecy at the Ephraim Mogale Local Municipality ahead of the site inspection of Moloto Road/R573 development project.

The R4.5 billion worth Moloto Road priority project, with duration of 36 months, has seen the upgrades and maintenance over the entire 160km length of the R573 between Marble Hall and Pretoria.

Its upgrades include the construction of five new roundabouts, an undivided four-lane dual carriageway with a median barrier, the improvement of stormwater drainage, pedestrian crossings, walkways and public transport stops.

A minimum of R129 million which is 30% of the contract value has been channelled towards Small, Medium and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) development.

In addition, a further R34 million, which makes 80% of the contract value, has been used towards targeted labour, across various targeted labour groups such as women, young people and people living with disabilities.

SANRAL invested R3.7 billion for the first phase of the R573 Moloto Road in the Mpumalanga and Limpopo sections.

The upgrade of the project which falls under Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo is envisaged to improve safety on the important economic artery which carries about 50 000 commuters every working day.

MEC Rachoene appreciated the work done by SANRAL on the project. “We really appreciate this beautiful road. This road has created more jobs for our people. As you see now, there are other malls that have been constructed as a result of this road. We really appreciate this intervention by the national government,” stated Rachoene.

Speaking about road safety, Rachoene highlighted, “We are trying our level best to work together, both as the provincial government and our municipalities, to then enforce the laws on our roads because lots of accidents that happen on our roads are because drivers are just reckless and they are not obeying the laws, so we are trying by all means through our safety department to ensure that we enforce those. Truly speaking we all know that Moloto Road is a deadly road. So with this type of intervention we are hopeful that those fatalities we used to hear about will come to an end.”