Eastern Cape roads are due for a revamp as the Department of Roads and Transport received its first batch of vehicles purchased from two vehicle manufacturing companies based in the province.
Eastern Cape roads are due for a revamp as the Department of Roads and Transport received its first batch of vehicles purchased from two vehicle manufacturing companies based in the province.
The batch includes 13 trucks which can hold 13 000 litres of water and six six-ton crane trucks to the value of about R20 million. The vehicles were purchased from two vehicle manufacturing companies based in the Eastern Cape: Fuso (Mercedes Benz South Africa) in East London and Man in Port Elizabeth. Ronnies Motors and TFM Manufacturing from East London were involved in the tender.
Acting chief director of construction in the Eastern Cape Sandile Booi said most the plant’s vehicles are old so they often had to hire vehicles to get the job done. "This is the first of many to come and the stock will bring a lot of savings to the department,” he said. The department will save about two-thirds on expenditure than when they were hiring. The head of mechanics for the in-house roads construction unit, Mninawe Ncobo said, “This is the first batch of its kind and we are expecting rollers before the end of November. We have also purchased excavators as they are scarce in the country and very expensive to hire.”
Man’s principal dealer, Ian Dangers said, “This was tough but I am very grateful to the department. This has been a nice cash injection and I’m hoping for a longer relationship. With the water tankers, we got a real quality product from TFM and we are looking forward to the future.” The fleet will be divided throughout the Eastern Cape with Alicedale being the priority as it is part of the department’s 2010 project. The 2010 projects are taking place in areas that have viewing sites and tourism centres which will be exceptionally busy during next year’s Fifa Soccer World Cup. “We are planning to re-surface the road and make sure it is usable by June 2010,” said acting chief manager, Mvuyisi Goxa. With the savings that will be brought forth by the purchase of the fleet Booi said, “We are planning to buy more vehicles, other money will help in the resurfacing of the roads and we will get more projects running.”
