South Africa’s Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga says the new R216-million Montrose Interchange on the N4, in Mpumalanga, is a prime example of government delivering on its mandate to build better and safer road networks that can help grow the economy and create jobs.
In officially opening the interchange on September 11, she hailed the project as a model of cooperation between the National Department of Transport, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and the private sector.
In this case, Sanral’s partnership with Trans Africa Concessions, in collaboration with provincial and local government, had delivered new, state-of-the-art road infrastructure that meets the best engineering and construction standards in the world, Chikunga said.
“This project shows us that South Africa has the capability to build freeway interchanges that can compare to any similar project in countries with advanced and highly developed economies,” she added, pointing out that the project is an example of a successful public-private partnership (PPP).
Mpumalanga Public Works, Roads and Transport MEC Mandla Ndlovu said the Montrose Interchange had all levels of government working together to grow the economy and benefit the province, the country and Mozambique.
Sanral CEO Reginald Demana commented that the Montrose Interchange would significantly improve safety, reduce the number of accidents and help to ensure the free flow of people and goods between South Africa and Mozambique.
“The new Montrose Interchange is a major feature of the N4 Maputo Corridor, which connects Mpumalanga, Gauteng and the North West to Mozambique. This is an economic development corridor which has proven to be a significant driver of growth in the region,” he explained.
The project, on which construction started in November 2021, is aimed at improving mobility and to facilitate trade and logistics between South Africa and Mozambique, especially exports and imports through the Maputo harbour.
The scope of works included the realigning of 600 m of the existing Schoemanskloof road, the construction of four new interchange ramps, the widening of the existing two-lane Crocodile river bridge to five lanes, and the construction of two new signature arch bridges.
The newly upgraded interchange presented locals with employment and business opportunities, with more than 350 labourers employed on the project over 20 months and more than 20 local companies participated as subcontractors.
Many small businesses benefited by learning new skills and growing their companies.
For skills and transformation initiatives, Raubex introduced labour-intensive training to capacitate locals by giving them practical work experience before the formal training from an accredited training institution.
This enabled them to understand their scope of work better before moving to the theoretical platform. Forty-four emerging contractors have benefitted from the project and 834 local people benefitted through employment.
Mbombela mayor Sibongile Makushe also lauded the work done by the department and Sanral, adding that the construction of this interchange has already uplifted local communities and will undoubtedly have an even greater economic spinoff by making it easier and safer to access neighbouring provinces and countries.
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