On 8 August, Provincial Minister of Infrastructure Tertuis Simmers kicked off the Western Cape leg of the National Department of Transport (NDOT) Vala Zonke (“close them all”) campaign to fix potholes on South Africa’s roads at a DTPW road maintenance site on the DR1012 (Old Faure Road). This six-month NDOT national campaign to repair potholes focuses on provincial and municipal roads and is spearheaded by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). NDOT will be launching a reporting app that members of the public can use to report potholes with geolocated images.
At the event, Provincial Minister Simmers remarked that “The Western Cape Government will target physical works including resealing, blacktop patching, pothole repairsand maintenance of roads”. He went on to say that “The province has key road projects currently underway in the whole province, from the DR1012 to projects in the Central Karoo which are progressing well, including a R250-million routine maintenance project on the N12 which links traffic coming from the N1 towards Oudtshoorn.”
This particular project, the C1183 project, has created 317 job opportunities, 176 of them allocated to youth and 87 to women. One of the 12 appointed sub-contractors is a 100% women-owned enterprise. Simmers went on to say “The C1183 project is on track to be completed timeously and that is crucial as this is a strategic passageway to one of the province’s key tourist destinations.
Through Vala Zonke and other projects we are not only rehabilitating the road infrastructure, but also creating sustainable economic opportunities for the local communities in the surrounding areas”.