SANRAL’s Projects Suffer as Communities Build Houses on Sites Identified for Road Projects
26-03-2025
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Parliament of the Republic of South Africa
Source
SANRAL has informed the Portfolio Committee on Transport that many of its projects are frustrated when communities, who just want to extort money from the entity, build housing on sites identified for road projects. The committee is currently on a weeklong visit to KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape where it will visit various road infrastructure projects.
The first site to visit on the committee’s programme was the seven-phased Mtentu and Msikaba bridges project in the Eastern Cape. The committee heard that work on the projects is advancing well but has a challenge with communities who building houses on sites earmarked for the project.
SANRAL regional manager, Mr Dumisani Nkabinde, said if SANRAL is too transparent with communities about the projects it has in the pipeline, communities start moving onto the identified sites. “This is a challenge we are confronted with nationally. Once we start identifying sites for projects, communities start building residential settlements hoping to cash in. They know that SANRAL is required by law to build them alternative settlements or buy them out,” Mr Nkabinde explained. “This has become a significant problem within SANRAL projects and it is costly. This delays projects. The state suffers great losses unnecessarily.”
Mr Nkabinde said they do not know how to deal with the challenge but felt duty-bound to alert the committee to the challenge.
The committee also heard that although the Covid-19 pandemic and the business rescue of one of the contractors were setbacks for the project, 326 locals are permanently employed on the project and various small, medium and micro enterprises have also benefitted. In addition, while some parts required for the construction were procured in Malaysia, a significant proportion are procured locally.
The committee also heard that local youths have benefitted a great deal from training opportunities available through the project.
The committee plans to visit various construction sites around Mtentu on Wednesday.
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