Government ramping up ‘war on potholes’
South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) and the Department of Transport have ramped up their war on potholes with a R1.1 billion upgrade to the R23 near Standerton, Mpumalanga.
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said that she is confident that the upgrade to the R23 will lead to economic growth in the area.
“As government, we recognise that good roads help to grow the economy, and that is why we are spending billions of rands to improve our infrastructure and build new roads to move people and goods,” Chikunga said.
“No investor will want to invest in a country which does not have good roads and that is why we have the Vala Zonke campaign, to ensure that our roads are repaired and maintained.”
The upgrade to the R23 forms part of the Vala Zonke campaign, with SANRAL leading the “War Room” and offering technical support to eliminate potholes nationwide.
The group said that using nanotechnology as an international standard has helped improve road maintenance as part of the campaign.
SANRAL CEO Reginald Demana said the implementation of the Vala Zonke campaign in Standerton was a pilot project which will be rolled out in the future.
“This project is showing what we always intended with Operation Vala Zonke. It’s a collaborative effort between all the different levels of government, and SANRAL is providing the necessary technical support with its skills and resources,” said Demana.
“We are assisting with the bags of material to ensure that it is the right product and also making sure that the quality of the work that is done and the level of compaction is up to the right standard to make sure that we are not coming back here when the first rains come, to make sure potholes don’t reopen.”
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