THE COMMUNITY OF BUSHBUCKRIDGE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY GIVES MEC DIKELEDI MAHLANGU THE THUMBS UP ON OPENING THE OAKLEY-ROLLE ROAD.

THE COMMUNITY OF BUSHBUCKRIDGE LOCAL MUNICIPALITY GIVES MEC DIKELEDI MAHLANGU THE THUMBS UP ON OPENING THE OAKLEY-ROLLE ROAD.

 

By BRIAN KAJENGO

 

A warm welcome is what MEC for Mpumalanga Public Works, Roads and Transport; Dikeledi Mahlangu received when she visited the Oakley-Rolle community under the Bushbuckridge Local Municipality on Tuesday the 8^th of April 2014.

 

MEC Mahlangu, representatives from Bushbuckridge Local Municipality, local Councillors and the Departmental management visited the area to officially handover roads that have been upgraded by the Department. The roads include the D3969, D4390, D4385 and D4387 phase one and two which are interconnecting between the areas of Rolle and Oakley.

 

On arrival, the community sang and chanted for the MEC who they say has managed to live up to her promise of building a road for the community of Oakley. One happy member of the community was Cynthia Chauke who is a resident of Oakley.

 

Chauke has been living in the area her whole life. She recalled how the road used to be a challenge.

“I was born in this area 25 years ago and I remember when we went to school, the road was muddy and when it’s dry it used to have a lot of dust. We easily got sick. But today I am happy that the days of gravel roads are over. Now we travel in peace and there is an increase in the availability of transport because of the good state of the road as it has been upgraded from gravel to tar” said Chauke.

 

The 1st phase of the project which includes the D4390, D4385 and D4387 roads in the Rolle-Oakley area is 16 kilometres. The project commenced in March 2013 at the cost of almost R98 million.

 

The second phase of the project is 11 kilometres in length and includes the D3969 road between Xhimungwe to Timihiheli (Cunningmore), which connects to Oakley. An amount of almost R70 million was budgeted for the road which was upgraded from gravel to tar in 15 months. It was completed in January 2014

 

Speaking to the local community who came in large numbers to witness the handover, MEC Dikeledi Mahlangu said that the state of roads in the province is a concern for government.

 

“We are always worried about the state of the roads, which is why we do our level best to ensure that we build new roads and upgrade those that needs to be upgraded. Our plan as government is to ensure that every community has better roads infrastructure. Gone are those days where good roads are only found in towns. We will make sure that all roads, whether it is in town or in rural areas, the roads infrastructure must be equally the same” said Mahlangu.

 

Themba Hlongwane also shared the same sentiments. He stated that he is happy to see such developments taking place in their area because it shows that sooner or later all resources that are available in towns will also be found in deep rural areas.

 

“We also want to see good roads in our area and we believe that what the MEC has done here is something that will remain a legacy for a long time” said Hlongwane.

 

The projects have created job opportunities for the locals. During phase one (1) a total 80 job opportunities were created. This includes 32 women and 48 males. During phase two (2) a total of 260 job opportunities were created for the locals. This includes 156 females and 104 males. The MEC closed the ceremony by cutting a ribbon on the road displaying that the road has officially been opened.