A Chinese investment railway project signed by head of state President Jacob Zuma this week will link Mpumalanga to Gauteng and will also prevent road deaths.
The SABC reported last night that Zuma’s government will deliver the railway to the people of Mpumalanga and Gauteng after residents complained to him about road carnages, including hundreds killed from 2013 in the Mpumalanga area.
It was during a visit to Marabastad earlier this year that residents complained to the president about their plight.
During government’s Siyahlola Presidential Monitoring Programme earlier this year in Kwaggafontein, Zuma told the residents of the former homeland that government had approved the project of building a rail route that would connect Tshwane and Siyabuswa and that “construction will begin soon.”
Yesterday Zuma signed the project to construct the 120km long rail – that will transport people between the two provinces.
The Chinese Construction Company will do the work.
Dubbed the road of death, the rail will be the alternative that links Tshwane and Siyabuswa.
Speaking in China yesterday, Zuma said: “We are pleased that some of the projects in South Africa are getting off the ground and key amongst these project is the Moloto Road Development Corridor linking Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces.
“This project is designed to change the quality of the lives of the people in the area through among others promoting economic development and work opportunities and bringing to an end long commuting from home to work for the poor,” he said.
President Zuma also received a courtesy call from the CEO and vice-chairman of Huawei Technologies, Mr Guo Ping as part of his drive to promote investment and he visited the Guangzhou Automobile Group plant in Guangzhou “buoyed by the recent massive investment at Coega. He encouraged them to follow other Chinese auto companies and set up shop in South Africa,” a statement read.
(edited by MLM)
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