Bell Equipment recently handed over 30 Bell 670G graders to the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport in Pietermaritzburg for deployment in road maintenance and infrastructure.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Transport, Community Safety and Liaison, Willies Mchunu, said the graders have been allocated to various regions in the province and would be used to keep the province’s 23 960km gravel road network in a safe and acceptable state to further improve the quality of life for rural communities.
In the last five years the department has emerged as a top performer, having upgraded 457km of gravel to tar roads, rehabilitated or re-tarred 1 859km and resealed more than 10 million square metres of the road network. The department also constructed 1 569km of new gravel roads along with 28 vehicle and 61 pedestrian bridges.
“The arrival of the new graders will improve the quality of rural roads in the province. Moving forward we are going to invest in opening more access roads and eradicate potholes in rural roads.
We will partner with local manufacturing companies to grow the economy and create more sustainable jobs. If we don’t promote local companies, then we’ll have only ourselves to blame. In the next financial year we will be purchasing an additional 36 graders,” said MEC Mchunu.
Managing Director of Bell Equipment Sales Africa, Bokkie Coertze, said at the handover that they no longer regard themselves as a supplier to the Department.
“In our view, this is an alliance. Besides successfully tendering for and being awarded the contract to supply and deliver these 30 graders, we are already engaged in training Department of Transport apprentices, who will ensure that these machines help the department to deliver on their mandate.
“We understand that the department’s mandate is the effective management of its road infrastructure network through the planning, construction, repair and maintenance of a balanced road network that supports the Provincial Growth and Development Strategy.
As a responsible corporate citizen of KwaZulu-Natal, Bell Equipment supports nearly 1 000 suppliers in the province and through these graders we pledge our support for this strategy and are confident that together we can achieve this objective.”
Coertze expressed appreciation to the Department for creating and sustaining local jobs
Coertze also expressed appreciation to the Department for its commitment to the Preferential Procurement Policy Framework Act, which aims to encourage localisation and preference for locally manufactured products in support of creating and sustaining local jobs.
“It is our hope that this will spur some of our competitors to make the necessary manufacturing investments in South Africa, which will in turn translate to more quality and sustainable jobs. Manufacturing is the backbone of any economy.”