The pothole riddled R411 road, connecting Mqanduli and Coffee Bay, is set to receive much needed attention following the introduction of a contractor to undertake the emergency maintenance of the road.
This comes after Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, had earlier announced that the road would be managed by his department through the South African National Road Agency Limited (SANRAL).
SANRAL, on November 9, introduced Rainbow Civils as the main contractor appointed for the project.
Speaking during the introduction of the contractor, King Sabata Dalindyebo (KSD) Local Municipality Executive Mayor, Nyaniso Nelani, said the long-awaited repair of the road would boost tourism for the municipality as more tourists will flock to Coffee Bay and the nearby Hole In The Wall.
“The introduction of the contractor is an important milestone that all KSD municipality communities should be pleased about, as it means economic growth for the municipality through the tourism boom that will result from this.
“This is also an important infrastructure investment that takes us a step closer to our aspirations of our becoming a metropolitan city in 2026,” Nelani said.
The emergency road maintenance project has been allocated a budget of R68 million and covers a 75km stretch from Viedgesville to Coffee Bay.
The appointed contractor is already on site and the project is scheduled for completion in August 2023.
SANRAL stakeholder relations manager for the southern region, Welekazi Ndika, appealed for cooperation among stakeholders involved in the project to ensure that it proceeds without disruptions and gets finished on time.
“It is in everyone’s best interests to have a road that is safe and usable to motorists and that should be our main focus throughout the project period,” Ndika said.
The scope of the project includes route patrol, pothole repairs, edge breaks, pavement layers, cleaning of concrete drains and earth drains, removal of edge build-up, litter cleaning, guardrails and emergency standby, among others.
Half of the allocated project budget has been earmarked for local small businesses, while locals in nine KSD municipality wards that the route is covering will also get temporary employment.
