Durban - KwaZulu-Natal Premier Sihle Zikalala says that his provincial government will continue to pursue infrastructure-led development, with several projects lined up for the 2022/23 financial year.
Zikalala was delivering his State of the Province Address (Sopa) at the Pietermaritzburg Royal Showgrounds on Wednesday where he said that the upgrade of the national network by Sanral was on track, adding that transport infrastructure was a catalyst for economic growth, job creation and development.
Topping those projects is the R15 billion route from Dardanelles to Lynnfield Park which has been estimated to create 1 400 jobs, while another route under construction is from Cato Ridge to Dardanelles, with an estimated cost of R1.6 billion and has targeted to create 1 450 jobs.
Zikalala said that other work packages were continuing as planned and that these will include the upgrade of the EB Cloete interchange and the KwaMashu interchange.
“As we committed in the last Sopa, we are pleased that all the 14 Welisizwe bridges are now complete. Communities can now cross safely to access important services, even when there is flooding. This year we will, through the intervention of Welisizwe Bailey Bridges, create an additional 11 000 jobs.
“We welcome the pronouncement in the Sona (State of the Nation Address) that more of these bridges will be built this year. In addition to these projects, through the Department of Transport, we have allocated R8.7 billion for construction and maintenance of road infrastructure in the province,” Zikalala said.
He added that R4.8 billion of the R8.7 billion will go to the maintenance of existing infrastructure and R3.9 billion will be allocated for construction of new projects, upgrades and other engineering work.
“This includes infrastructure damaged by the recent storms. Further details will be elaborated in the budget speech of the department,” Zikalala said.
Political Bureau