Significant progress has been made on the R15-billion upgrade of the Moloto road which, once completed, is expected to help improve safety on one of the country’s most dangerous roads, remarked Transport Minister Barbara Creecy during an inspection of the 138 km stretch of road spanning Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.

The road is being upgraded by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

“Moloto road carries 60 000 people every day to and from Gauteng; it has a very sad history and unfortunately has taken many lives.

“Having heard about these accidents for most of my adult life, I’m very glad that I will have an opportunity, during the term that I have as Minister of Transport, to work with Sanral and . . . government and community leaders to ensure we overcome the obstacles and speed up construction,” she said.

The straightening of the road, construction of effective barriers and two lanes of traffic in each direction, with high mast lighting to ensure safer driving at night, were just some of the safety features included in the upgrade.

Additionally, the road would, in due course, have cameras along the length of the route to monitor driver behaviour 24/7, she said. 

“If problematic behaviour is identified by either drivers or pedestrians, patrol vehicles will be deployed by a control room.”

Creecy noted, however, that in addition to building better and safer roads, the behaviour of road users was a much bigger issue in South Africa.

“Engineering alone will not save lives. We need each individual road user to acknowledge that roads are a shared space and to make a conscious commitment to using this space responsibly. Radical behavioural change is needed and that starts with you and me as individuals,” she expressed.

Sanral has built four new traffic circles on the route so far, three in Mpumalanga and one in Limpopo, to serve as speed-calming measures and minimise the risk of serious and fatal crashes.

“What we know from research that was done by the Road Traffic Management Corporation is that 73% of accidents are caused by driver behaviour; either speeding, driving under the influence of alcohol, using cellphones or painting nails while driving, and all manner of other behaviours that shouldn’t happen when driving.

“One of the issues that we are currently working on with the Department of Transport is to improve the implementation plan on road safety. So, better patrolling and observation of our roads are major priorities, and we are working with our provincial transport authorities to ensure that we can have patrols on our major routes 24/7.

“It is not enough to be patrolling during the day when most accidents are occurring between Friday evening and the early hours of Sunday,” said Creecy.

The Minister also said road upgrades were crucial to achieving President Cyril Ramaphosa’s objective of creating jobs and growing the economy. 

“If we want to realise our President’s objective for the country, which is to make employment and growth of the economy the number one priority, then it’s very important that roads like these must be upgraded so that those who use them are able to get to work or school safely, and so that we move goods and services efficiently.”

Creecy added that, while construction on Moloto road had progressed well so far, the complexity of the project would increase going forward, owing to long stretches where people had settled on the road reserve.

“I want to appeal to local municipalities, traditional leaders and residents themselves to work with Sanral to ensure that we do what is necessary to move people off the road reserve and complete the Moloto road upgrade project.”

Moreover, Sanral Northern Region regional manager Progress Hlahla explained that the road experiences a high number of fatalities.

“Road safety is one of Sanral’s core pillars and as such we prioritised safety in the design and construction of the project, to ensure efficiency and improved quality of life for all.

“In implementing the safe system approach, we have created an environment that encourages compliance rather than seeking to assign blame when things go wrong. We want to work with communities and especially public transport operators to collectively improve the behaviour of road users,” he said.

In addition to road safety and mobility benefits, the project also contributes to economic relief in the region.

The roads agency has, to date, invested more than R4.5-billion on the Moloto road upgrade. The Mpumalanga and Limpopo sections were incorporated into the Sanral network in July 2015, with a considerable amount of work being done since then.

A minimum of 30% of the contract value on all Sanral projects is subcontracted to qualifying small, medium-sized and microenterprises, while at least 12 500 jobs are expected to be created throughout the project duration.

In line with Sanral’s transformation agenda, opportunities are prioritised for women, youth, persons with disabilities and military veterans.

With the festive season looming, Creecy appealed to South Africans to ensure that both drivers and vehicles were ready for the road before embarking on their journeys.

Sanral’s road safety campaign, Road Safety One, supports the Minister’s appeal and implores road users to make one decision that could save a life.