Eastern Cape upgrades

The upgrading of the R410 from the R392/R410 intersection near Komani to Cacadu (formerly Lady Frere) will provide a welcome boost to the regional economy, as well as eMalahleni Local Municipality. The latter is a 17-ward municipality comprising the towns of Cacadu, Indwe and Dordrecht, with surrounding farms and villages.

Anticipated to start within the next two years at an estimated budget of R960 million, Sanral’s progamme will include the construction of additional paved shoulders, passing lanes and slope stabilisation at the Nonesi Pass, surfacing over the full length of the road, plus the installation of traffic lights in the Cacadu CBD.

In preparation for these and other works, Sanral’s SMME pre-tender training programme will be implemented within the municipality, focusing on grade 1-4 emerging contractors.

In the meantime, Sanral has appointed Rainbow Civils to implement routine road maintenance along the R410. The scope of works includes crack sealing and patching of pavements, repairing of pavement layers, edge breaks, edge drops, gravel shoulders, slope failures and washaways. The project has a budget estimate of R55.3 million.

Running in parallel, Sanral is implementing several other road infrastructure projects within eMalahleni. These include emergency bridge repairs along the R410, with a budget estimate of R33.5 million; maintenance of the R56 and R369, valued at R56.7 million; and special maintenance of the R56 from the N6 to Dordrecht, valued at R253 million.

Other works comprise special maintenance of the R56 from Dordrecht to Indwe, valued at R304 million, as well as the special maintenance of the R56 from Indwe to Elliot and Elliot to Maclear, valued at R485 million.