In keeping with the Provincial Week’s special focus on the viability of bulk infrastructure in the Free State Province, the Free State’s permanent delegates to the NCOP visited R30 and Kroonstad -Henneman Road Network upgrades that are the life blood of Matjhabeng Municipality’s economy to assess progress they are making.
The delegation was pleased with the progress of the Henneman road that joins Welkom and Bloemfontein which is within its scheduled time frame and is on course to be fully-functional again. Before this upgrade, the road was crumbling and not usable to the traffic. But now it has been rehabilitated at a cost of R288 million and will be now opened to traffic in various phases of its completion.
To affirm the delegation’s approval of its progress thus far, Ms Lydia Moshodi, stated that “we are the ones who pass budget for municipal infrastructure, and we are doing so for good reasons and I am personally happy for the good work we have witnessed in this project. And we hope that the feat that this project has achieved could be emulated by other infrastructure projects in the province”.
Thereafter, the delegation went to R30, a road that is a spine of the mining belt that cuts across the Matjhabeng Municipality. This road which was eroded by floods recently was prioritized by the province because its dilapidated state as a result of floods claimed 34 lives.
Despite that, the road is not within its scheduled completion plans. Mr George Michalakis, a member of the delegation asked why? The Chief Engineer of Roads in the Free State Province, Mr Jacques Seclave, replied that the scope of the project was expanded from its initial conceptualization hence the delay. In addition to that, “we had to source additional funds for that and that delayed its completion that was earmarked for 16 September”.
When Mr Moletsane Moletsane, a member of the delegation asked if the said company was contributing in rehabilitating the dam. Mr Seclave responded that the said mining company made an obligation to rehabilitate its wastewater but has not yet done so. Mr Moletsane proclaimed that this company should be held accountable for its action.
Regarding R30, the delegation had reservations whether the current road’s height would survive future floods. Although Mr Seclave assured the delegation that the road was redesigned to survive future floods, they insisted that a bridge would bring a lasting solution to the threat of being flooded in future. He maintained that the road was high enough and has a pipe system in place to avoid flooding in future.
Thereafter, the delegation went to assess the progress of the R3.4 billion lifestyle housing project that will consist of bonded, social houses, student accommodation and mixed-use real estate that will accommodate well over 7000 households.
Most members of the delegation were impressed by the state of its planning and the progress made thus far. When asked by the Chief of the NCOP, Mr Seiso Mohai, what kind of financing model involved in the development of this lifestyle houses? The Director of Pennyville Zamimpilo Relocation, Mr Deon Steyn, responded that “this development is funded by public and private partnership. And it would be finished within its allocated budget”.
When Mr Adriaan De Bruyn, a member of the delegation, sked if Mangaung would be able to handle the bulk water and sanitation infrastructure of the site given its multifaced challenges in this regard, Ms Maleshoane Sehume, the Manager of Gap Housing in Mangaung Municipality, replied that the municipality has the capability.
On why the project has taken a staggering ten years to be where it’s now, Mr Steyn replied that at first there was no appetite from the metro to fund such a project due to the failure of social housing projects in the past. But “when we managed to get contractors who would continue with construction even if they were not paid for a number of months, they noted our belief in the success of this unique housing project and came on board and made funding available”.
He continued: “Now there’s trust among all stakeholders about the prospects of this project and its social and economic benefits to the metro.” He further assured the delegation that the planning and design of this project has been completed and if further funds can be made available, they can expedite the process of its completion.
By Abel Mputing
14 September 2023
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