Bloemfontein – The departmental of Community Safety, Roads and Transport (CSR&T) led by Jabu Mbalula has acceded to a request by farmers to repair 54 km roads.
This follows a letter by Advocate George Galloway to Mr Ntaka, requesting approval to engage special contractor to repair three critical rural roads in Eastern Free State.
Galloway sent the letter on the 1 April 2025.
The 54 km includes S800, S796 & S19 in Harrismith area.
David van Vuuren, Democratic Alliance’s MPL asked Mbalula about the Advocate Galloway’s request to engage specialist contractor.
In response, Mbalula said:
“The department has received a second request letter on the 16 July 2025. Approval was granted on the first request letter.”
van Vuuren further asked Mbalula about a request by farmers to pay full construction costs and the department providing diesel.
Mbalula said the department was in the process of considering the request.
The interesting part in this 54 km repair that farmers are willing to pay for its construction in full is the costs, according to farmers it will costs them R650 000 excluding diesel which they asked the department to provide and “plough back” that a contractor is expected to pay or his contract is terminated.
This, raises a serious question of the real cost of roads repairs in Free State.
For 44 km between Excelsior and Tweespruit, CSR&T awarded New Beginnings Project the tender at a cost of R269 million.
Black Top Civils were awarded a R266 million tender for 39 km construction work between Hobhouse and Tweespruit.
Down Touch Investments awarded R211 million tender for 61 km construction work between Koppies and Sasolburg.
CHG Grondwerke BK quoted R650 000 for 54 km work, let that sink in.
Speaking exclusively to STEPUPSANEWS, David van Vuuren said they welcome these developments.
“The Democratic Alliance is in constant communication with farmers in the Free State regarding requests and assistance where they take over the responsibility of the department.
We have been struggling to get swift response but the department but in the mean time the department has started to communicate with farmers and approved some of the requests.”
In closing, can Vuuren said they are also helping farmers and taxi operators who closed R708.
In July, farmers and taxi operators shut down R708 and if the only way for this road is to repaired, let farmers take over.
This is developing story.
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Black top civils are busy tarring the R709 between Tweespruit and Hobhouse
Kindly advise the process to be followed for them to pave a 5km strip to Awimaweh Resort where an existing closed road is
Awimaweh Resort has development rights for 114 sectional title units. It is the only resort with development rights in the free state with huge potencial with its 7km waterfront for tourism development and residential housing and the paving of that 5km strip will make a huge difference and will largely contribute to job recrearion
This really proves that cadre deployment was the death and downfall of the once powerful ANC.
Looking at above repair cost it needs no brainer 🧠🧠🧠 or a rocket scientist that tender prices were inflated to enrich friends
Can Mbalula make it makes sense how can he say he has approved the request but in the same sentence says he is still discussing with farmers about diesel
A 54km cost R650000 by farmers contractor and a 34km cost R236 millions something doesn’t make sense here.”Who’s FOOLING who” here or is it contractors in cahoots with Manucipal workers to loot
It’s impossible to repair 5km with R5m, Asphalt to pave 400m cost R2m.
Indeed true.There must be some(above50%) to steal and share with their principals.
So true Maputle.
I’m also very shocked and disgusted by this circus of service delivery.
Only if our people can wake up and recognize how we are being played by the comrades and stop voting for them.
They are not comrades. They are thieves. A comrade is someone that you can trust and rely on.
All private sector companies overcharge government for anything. Now that they quote farmers it’s rock bottom. Not as if farmers won’t write it off against tax. That is why there is an emphasis on insourcing. The tender system is fundamentally flawed and corrupt. It does not deliver much needed infrastructure, skills and worse very little jobs. Gayton and Kenny for all their flaws has proven what can be done when these things are done in-house in a municipality of Beaufort West Municipality. But now the propaganda machine is in overdrive. They never publicised it when it was done by others. Both ANC and DA is milking the tenders cash cow for their beneficiaries which provide them funding. The ANC use the guise of BBBEE and the DA the guise of the efficient private sector. The tenderpreneurs then fund ANC and private companies the DA. The private sector main business model price fixing, tender fraud, collusion, currency manipulation, accounting fraud etc. hardly any news here.
However it can drive the cost of building and maintaining roads down drastically if this model is more widely adopted.
The ANC has truly failed to govern and this is not exaggeration but a bitter truth.
Now it is going to Mbalula six months to approve to pay for the cost of diesel ⛽⛽⛽
Thanks very much concerned People of south Africa.
Please manne julle moenie bang wees om te praat onse almal kwaat for this irresponsble leaders giving away our tax money to this thieves.
Please guys keep pressurizing them
Democracy without accountability will remain an delusion for as long as MEC for Roads and Transport can lie on national platforms and claim there is a portion of R709 driving into Excelsior Town that is complete, when there is no such from the day of his statement till to date 30 August 2025 there is no such. Blatant corruption nothing else
this awarding of tenders to the money making business need to stop and people must be given work on merit, giving people tenders because they are black is a joke as they are looting the state and then there is nothing done at the end of the day, how can a 34km road cost over 200million while a 54km one cost less that a million,con someone do the maths?
But why are we paying taxes when government cannot do the service delivery. It is their responsibility to repair the roads and not the private sector. This has been going on for years and I cannot understand why people still vote for them???????
54Km 650’000 is R12’037 per Km. excluding Diesel may be posibble for gravel repairwork. At R120’370 per Km a decent permenant re-build can be achieved.
All those other tenders at Millions per Km dirt roads sounds like rip-offs.
Without exonerating contractors who charge exorbitant amounts for these roads. It will also be fair to check how much they are being charged for the raw material or Asphalt they buy from some of these manufacturers, whom I would not be surprised if found to be members of these farming cooperatives .
All I’m saying is that we be objective and not look at it from one side.
Send Mkhwanazi to go find the money.