Durban - THE Federation for Radical Economic Transformation (FFRET) said the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has shown its seriousness about including small businesses in big projects.
The federation, which has 35 affiliates, said it was delighted with the engagement and inclusion of small businesses in the multibillion-rand road construction project for the expansion of the N2 and N3.
Sanral recently announced that the first batch of contracts, worth billions of rand, would be put out to tender over the next few weeks.
The project includes the upgrading of the N2 from the KwaMashu interchange to the uMdloti interchange; upgrading of the N3 from Cato Ridge to Dardanelles; and from Dardanelles to the Lynnfield interchange.
Successful bidders for the tenders must be a B-BBEE-level 1 to 4 and subcontract a minimum of 30% of the value of the contract to exempt micro-enterprises or qualifying small enterprises that are more than 51% black-owned.
A minimum of 8% of each of the contracts would also be required to be spent on various types of labour opportunities from targeted areas.
Affiliates of the federation meet the stipulated requirements.
FFRET spokesperson Skhumbuzo Ngcobo said they have been in discussions with Sanral, hence the inclusion of small businesses in the project.
“During the discussions we proposed that the project should not come with huge and complicated requirements - and Sanral heeded that. It’s important for big corporates to understand that forums represent groups of people with interests in what’s happening in their areas.
“It’s therefore imperative for big companies in all sectors to understand that local people understand local economic, political and environmental dynamics so it’s for the benefit of all to include them in local projects,” Ngcobo said.
The full extent of the planned upgrades on the N2 and N3 is expected to take up to eight years to complete, as various phases of the project are being sent out to tender.
Dumisani Nkabinde, regional manager of Sanral’s Eastern Region, said: “Investment in road infrastructure upgrades provide an opportunity for generating economic growth, alleviating poverty, and reducing inequality.”