Sanral outlines ‘work package’

NATIONAL road-building agency Sanral is spending R120-million on a suite of work opportunities aimed at winning over local communities to their Wild Coast N2 Toll Road (N2WCR) project.

More than 300 jobs are being created and 31 small businesses recruited or are already in training, announced Sanral’s community development project manager, Gcobani Socenywa, yesterday.

He said the cash will be spent on attracting labour and small business to work on the upcoming Mtentu and Msikaba megabridges, the new “greenfields” section and road maintenance.

But in a year, Sanral planned that the practical training for new business owners would move to upgrading and constructing community access roads in Ingquza Hill, Mbizana and Port St Johns municipalities as part of the N2 project’s “work package”.

Socenywa said their broad aim was to develop communities and train small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) that could assist the toll road project.

Specifically, new construction startups will be trained so that they can provide “opportunities to participate in the development of the N2WCR”. The skills programme will run in O R Tambo and Alfred Nzo districts. Workers and small companies will also be trained in “road safety for through traffic, local traffic and non-motorised traffic”.

Sanral’s interest was socio-economic development, said Socenywa. The 31 business owners in Mbizana, Lusikisiki and Port St Johns will be trained in construction and how to start a business.

Three companies had been employed to provide training and mentoring. This follows a process of “stakeholder consultation and candidate selection”.

Those selected would be in the running for a level three, four or five NQF qualification.

They will also receive small business training from levels three to six in CIDB grades.

“Sanral is preparing local labour forces for these SMMEs. The programme will train an additional 330 individuals to help create a local skilled and semi-skilled labour force for the N2WCR,” he said.

“SMMEs that employ labour from local communities will be supported as labour will also receive accredited training.”

The result would be business owners upgrading and constructing community access roads in Ingquza Hill, Mbizana and Port St Johns municipalities.

This would “reduce informal access points along the N2WCTR [which] will improve road safety for motorists and pedestrians”.

By the end of February, business owners would have been trained in business management, tendering skills and financial management.

“We want to create sustainable, capable and empowered road construction SMMEs and startups,” said Socenywa.

SMMEs and start-ups will also be responsible for building storm water drainage systems, upgrading roads from gravel to surface standard, construction of sidewalks and concrete pavement works. —