 
SPEECH BY THE KWAZULU-NATAL CEO OF TRANSPORT, DR KWAZI MBANJWA DURING THE OPENING OF GEGEDE AND MHLANA ROADS15 May 2003
Programme Director I am extremely delighted to be part of the official opening of Gegede and Mhlana Road. The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport regards the provision of roads infrastructure as a fundamental component of economic reconstruction not only for our Province but also for the entire country. I would like to congratulate people of this area for the success of this very important Project. As I have indicated, the road to be opened is Gegede road and Mhlana road.
Gegede road is 11 kilometres and its value is R493 581.16 and we used 3 labour-based contracts in which we employed 78 people. We had one road betterment contract valued at R1 164 759.15. We used 2 contractors in a stretch of 13 kms Mhlana Road on the other hand was a road betterment contract with one contactor taking a 9.5 km stretch valued at R 800 000. This created employment opportunities for 13c people. At this stage I feel it is important to touch on certain aspects concerning periodic road maintenance. We have employed 3 contactors for Road P 499 and P 494, a 5 km stretch of the road and the value of the contract work is R351 137.22. During the financial year concentrated on Hlawini Local Road . We issued 3 labour-based contracts at this 11.5 stretch of road at the cost of R717 121.84. This created employment opportunities for 54 people. We never ended there, Road D 1559 received a betterment in which 1 contract was issued which employed 2 people. This is a 4.5 km stretch of road valued at R 611 233. 00. I want to state it categorically clear to everybody present here that President Thabo Mbeki made a call to all of us to "take new measures to increase the volume of quality of our investment in the social infrastructure. This includes such areas as housing and municipal infrastructure, hospitals and clinics, schools, ROADS, water, electricity and government facilities." Very few, if any, governments in history have had the challenge of tackling manifold challenges such as we do in South Africa. The combined oppression of Colonialism and Apartheid left our communities on the verge of disintegration. Our rural communities, in particular, were in crises in spite of their potential in terms of agriculture and tourism. Therefore, when the democratic government took over in 1994, the challenge was not only to address historical imbalances but also to face new challenges imposed externally by globalisation, challenges such as trans-national crime, AIDS - which is trans-national and poverty which became exacerbated by the tyranny of the unforgiving market forces. It is in this context that we set our self a goal of achieving a better life for all. A well-maintained road network is of critical importance in social reconstruction, especially in rural areas like here at Empangeni because the whole of Empangeni-Richards Bay Corridor is a gateway to Mozambique and the rest of Southern Africa. As our Minister is fond of saying, this will, in turn create favourable conditions for PEACE, DEMOCRACY AND DEVELOPMENT, the preconditions of A BETTER LIFE FOR ALL. I thank you.
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