Today marks the launch of the revamped S’Hamba Sonke Programme, which must deliver tangible outcomes to our people and serve as our contribution towards eradicating poverty and creating jobs.

These are the words of Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula during the launch of the S’Hamba Sonke Programme in Marapyane, Mpumalanga on 30 August.

The Minister said whilst the department may have revamped the manner in which the S’Hamba Sonke Programme was delivered its core objectives remained the same. The programme wants to achieve the following:

• The distribution of road construction and maintenance budgets to achieve the maximum impact for reducing the transaction costs of South African products on international markets.
• The adoption of best practice road construction and road maintenance methodologies to create cost efficient and cost-effective job, SMME and co-operative opportunities.
• Ensuring that the public good associated with new access and mobility is maximised by prioritising those transport corridors that will impact on sustainable social and economic upliftment and by coupling road construction and maintenance programmes with people centred road safety initiatives

“Our revamped programme means we will tighten collaboration and break down the artificial barriers created by a silo approach to service delivery. We are here to showcase the infrastructure investment we are making in rural areas through the S’Hamba Sonke Programme’’, said the Minister.

The Minister also went on to say: “The conceptualisation of the S’Hamba Sonke Programme was premised on the reality that while South Africa’s national road network is in good to very good condition, this is not the case with our secondary road networks, or Provincial roads. Considering that it is the secondary road networks that feed increased traffic volumes onto national roads, the relatively high transport costs associated with the unchecked deterioration of the secondary roads remains a significant factor in South Africa’s relative competitiveness in global markets. This has been a pervasive challenge for many years.”