Pretoria - The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) has rejected reports that the planned upgrades along the N1-N2 Winelands route will affect the poor communities along the route, saying these reports are “misleading”.
Instead, the agency says the upgrade of the route, which will see the implementation of a tolling system, will create job opportunities for communities.
“SANRAL views the upgrading of the road network as a major infrastructural investment, which will lead to increased job opportunities and will also boost the economy in the region,” said SANRAL spokesperson Vusi Mona.
SANRAL projects that approximately 5 000 jobs will be created during the construction phase of the N1-N2 Winelands Toll Highway Project.
Of the jobs created, the majority will be for unskilled labour, which will benefit members of impoverished communities.
“Seventy-two percent of these jobs will go to workers at the lower end of the income spectrum. After construction, about 600 direct jobs will be generated annually.
“Also, an increase in productivity due to business timesaving as a result of increased efficiency of the network could generate as many as 148 jobs by the end of the concession period,” Mona said.
SANRAL also believes the improved road infrastructure could potentially generate between 1 300 and 2 100 indirect jobs.
This, Mona said, was in line with government’s priority on job creation and the government-led infrastructure investment programme
Mona said the upgrade would also lead to a major boost in tourism in the region, with the contribution to the GDP expected to increase from R1.5 billion at the start of construction to R14 billion at the end of the concession period.
The Gross Geographic Product will grow from R192 million to R2.2 billion over the same period.
Since the preparations, which began in 1996, Mona said the agency met with provincial and local government in the province, as well as with the communities who will be affected by the upgrades to the roads.
“SANRAL has extensive experience in developing toll projects and in listening to the entire stakeholder concerns, and addressing their issues as far as that is possible,” said Mona.
He added that since the inception of this project, they have met with the local authorities 96 times and have had 20 meetings with communities and farmers about the project. - SAnews.gov.za
