Good progress is being made on roadworks in the Witzenberg area

Contract no. C1216 – the periodic maintenance of MR310, DR1458 AND DR1487 between Ceres and Op Die Berg

Good progress is being made by the Western Cape Government on roadworks in the Witzenberg municipal town of Ceres. The contract commenced in November 2023 and is scheduled for completion in March 2026. The department has set aside a budget of R378 million for the completion of this project.

“The success of the road network in the Western Cape has always been evident through our strategy of a rigorous preventative and periodic road maintenance programme,” said Advocate Chantal Smith, acting Head of the Western Cape Infrastructure Department. “What further makes me proud is that we have set high contract participation goals which includes 40 000 person-days of work created which translates to 350 work opportunities through the length of the programme,” she added.

The department is ensuring that the project creates tangible job opportunities, for the local communities. The provincial Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers said, “Labour-intensive methods are preferred over mechanised methods wherever practically possible to maximise the employment of local labour and to ensure that the contract participation goal for local labour is met. The elements of work that were identified where people can be used instead of machines include traffic accommodation, crack sealing, rut filling, seals, structures, sidewalks, side drains, road signs, weed eradication, grass cutting, route patrols, and finishing the road reserve”.

The Western Cape Government is committed to creating an enabling environment for economic growth through infrastructure and the department’s contractor development initiatives respond to this. “Of interest is that the Department also set a target of 14 contracts for local enterprises for contractors graded at 1 or 2CE (Civil Engineering) while also setting a target of emerging contractor development of 12 contracts to 3 to 5 CE contractors. This is part of the provincial government’s commitment to use infrastructure investment to upskill and develop emerging contractors,” Minister Simmers concluded.