DoT, mines join forces to alleviate road infrastructure challenge
The Department of Transport (DoT) is part-nering with mining companies to build and maintain roads in the major coal transport areas of Mpumalanga, and intends to extend this collaboration throughout the rest of South Africa, says DoT director Whity Maphakela.
Over the past year, the DoT has piloted road infrastructure maintenance projects in Mpumalanga and the Northern Cape with mining companies.
He points out that, in the town of Kuruman, in the Northern Cape, in 2014, there were several months of protests by the local community about the lack of tarred roads in the area. The protesters barred learners and staff from going to school to get the attention of local government authorities.
The protestors’ main demand was for the 130 km stretch of road in the John Taolo Gaetsewe district municipality to be tarred.
Maphakela says this incident acts as a catalyst for the DoT to partner with mining houses through the Department of Mineral Resources to address the national road infrastructure challenge.
“Through this initiative we were able to secure [an unspecified amount of] funding from iron-ore producer Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine, in Kathu, in the Northern Cape, to assist in the construction of roads in the Northern Cape,” he says.
He adds that similar initiatives are also under way in Mpumalanga along the major coal haulage routes.
Eskom middle manager Nico Singh explains that these road infrastructure collaborative initiatives, particularly in Mpumalanga, are very much temporary in nature.
“These activities are primarily focused on ensur- ing the safety of mine haul trucks that operate along these routes and are limited to filling pot holes and opening road shoulders,” he says.
A
lthough these initiatives are noble ones, Singh says, they are very limited in scope and are in no way intended to be an answer to South Africa’s road infrastructure challenges.
He notes that the bulk of the capital that is being raised to fund the building and maintenance of roads in Mpumalanga is generated through environmental levies.
The funds raised through these levies are channelled to the National Treasury, which then allocates a portion of the monies to the South African National Roads Agency Limited and the Mpumalanga local government to repair, maintain and construct roads in the province.
“This model is a very good one. However, it cannot only be Eskom that is held financially responsible through the imposition of environmentally levies to pay for the roads in Mpumalanga. “This burden must be shared by other road users as well,” Singh stresses.
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