Pretoria - Government will in the next five years roll out broadband to 44 districts.
“This connectivity should focus on modernisation of government communication infrastructure and providing connectivity for schools, hospitals and all government facilities,” the Economic Sectors, Employment and Infrastructure Development cluster said on Tuesday.
It held a media briefing in Cape Town, which was chaired by Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti.
Phase one of the rollout of broadband will focus on eight districts covering 5 089 facilities and phase two of the project will focus on connecting 35 211 government facilities.
“As part of enabling citizens to participate in the digital society in an affordable manner, government is working together with the metros of Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Nelson Mandela Bay, Manguang, Cape Town and Johannesburg to roll out free WiFi.
“A total of R40 million has been allocated for the roll out,” the cluster said.
Water and sanitation
Five municipalities will benefit from the construction on phase one of the Vaal Gamagara Water Scheme in the Northern Cape.
The project is expected to create 1 500 jobs and will commence in June 2016.
“The process of finalising the designs for the construction of the uMzimvubu Dam, Eastern Cape, will be completed by end March 2016
“Raising of the Clanwilliam Dam wall in the Western Cape to increase its capacity is expected to commence by the end of the financial year,” the cluster said.
Transport infrastructure
A total of R1.1 billion has been allocated for the Moloto Road project, which links Pretoria with Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
The construction of the 410km road between East London and Mtamvuna is in the planning and design phase. The road is on the N2 Wild Coast road.
The South African National Road Agency Limited has also budgeted R2.5 billion for the construction of two main bridges at Msikaba and Mtentu.
Mineral beneficiation
South Africa is negotiating with a Chinese consortium to invest US$3.9 billion in metallurgical technology, processing, steel plant, mining construction and energy in Musina’s Special Economic Zone.
The Small Enterprise Development Agency has established a number of mineral beneficiation incubators in copper zinc and base metals; jewellery, aluminum fabrication and casting; stainless steel processing and platinum jewellery.
The National Skills Fund, Mining Qualifications Authority (MQA) and the IL Tari Goldsmith and Jewellery Design Academy of Italy are investing R30 million to train 20 South Africans.
The Department of Labour, together with the MQA, identified 1 000 learners for training in the mining sector. – SAnews.gov.za
