31 October 2024 Media Release: Wrapping up Transport Month – A Look into Garden Route District Municipality’s Roads Services

Media Release: Wrapping up Transport Month – A Look into Garden Route District Municipality’s Roads Services

 31 October 2024

The Garden Route District Municipality (GRDM) serves a diverse region known for its coastal towns, arid Klein Karoo stretches of land, lush forests, and mountainous landscapes, and farmlands. Through its Roads Services Department, GRDM services approximately 47 000 square km² roads on behalf of the Western Cape Government Provincial Department of Infrastructure.

GRDM ensures that, within its resource capacity, that road schedules are carefully planned while taking into consideration adverse weather conditions. The Roads Services personnel undertake various tasks such as infrastructure upgrades, re-graveling, resealing, and upgrading roads. These are all aimed at ensuring a reliable and safe trip for road users.

The total length of roads maintained within the Garden Route District is 6003km. The gravel roads serviced, account for 44.32% of all gravel roads in the district. The area serviced by GRDM is divided into 15 wards and these are maintained by 16 maintenance grader operators. According to an agreement with the WCG, a minimum of 10,000 km of gravel road surface must be graded annually. Where necessary, re-graveling projects are undertaken, and the Road Agency is responsible for rehabilitating the quarries from which the gravel is sourced.

A maintenance team is assigned to each ward, as well as a dedicated reseal team.  They also address potholes and seal to road surfaces. These teams rely heavily on farm owners and workers to also inform them of road-related issues after floods.

Garden Route Road Services Fleet

The Garden Route Roads Department currently has a fleet of 436 vehicles, valued at R439 134 592, consisting of both minor and major plant equipment and making it the largest fleet in the Western Cape.  The budget for the 2023/2024 financial year, according to the Service Level Agreement, was R201 427 000.

Minor plant includes smaller equipment such as concrete saws, compactors, mowers, pumps, and other tools used for various construction tasks on-site. These items can typically be operated by a single person.

Major plant primarily consists of heavy machinery but also includes smaller buses and vans. The heavy machinery refers to larger machines designed for tougher tasks, with commonly used equipment in the department including bulldozers, backhoe loaders, excavators, crane trucks, and more.

Road network

The road network which is maintained covers a combined distance of 6003km of road, of which 5282km are gravel surfaced roads, and 721km are bituminous surfaced roads.

Weather incidents and its impact on roads

The Garden Route District has experienced severe weather over the past year, which have left several roads in poor condition for road users. Some roads were temporarily closed due to the extent of the damage, while others have since been repaired and are now operational again.

At GRDM, we recognise that infrastructure maintenance and rehabilitation have a direct impact on the quality of life for individuals. Well-maintained roads and highways alleviate traffic congestion, reduce travel time, and improve the safety of road users. This is achieved through regular inspections of the road network, which provide valuable input for future maintenance plans.

Current Projects and their values

The following current projects have been identified along with their budgeted allocations:

The total budget for the current financial year, which services these projects, is R196.8M.

Current Projects

1. Maintenance Section

• Blacktop Patching target: 3000 m² ​
• Blacktop Patching actual: 468,00 m² (May 2024)​
• Projected at end of FY: 3000m^2​
• ​Blading Target: 10 000 km​
• Blading Actual: 2 115,11 km (May 2024)​
• Projected at end of FY: 10 000km​

2. Reseal Team

• Reseal Target: 268 652,00 m^2​
• Projected at end of FY: 268 652,00 m^2​

​3. Regravel & Construction team

Re-gravel- and Construction Teams is currently busy attending to Flood damages as per list below:

Please click on the link to view the list of flood-damaged roads.

Activities currently underway

Our staff component
To ensure that the roads in the Garden Route District are well-maintained, it is essential for Council to have the best personnel in place, as this specialised work requires specific skills. At GRDM, staff are trained to perform their duties with a high level of professionalism and expertise. Strict policies and procedures are in place for employees to follow, ensuring that everyone works together toward a common goal, while also ensuring that time and resources are used efficiently.

The Roads Services Department is one of GRDM’s key departments where specialised training, skills development, and mentoring opportunities are highly successful. These initiatives are essential in helping officials grow within the organisation, ensuring they acquire the expertise needed to excel in their roles and contribute to the department’s continued success.

Our Engineering Team
The Engineering technicians in GRDM are primarily involved in various engineering projects that include civil (construction, reseal & maintenance). Their responsibilities typically encompass:

• Technical Support: They provide technical assistance by performing calculations, field surveying, drafting plans, and using computer-aided design (CAD) software.
• Community Engagement: Given the municipality’s focus on community development, engineering technicians often engage with local residents to gather input on projects that affect their lives such as gathering complaints.
• Project planning and design, maintenance management and site supervision, among others are functions they perform.

Meet our technicians
Yolanda Somkhala – Chief Engineering Technician
Lungisa Qendu – Chief Engineering Technician
Chesney Roelf – Chief Engineering Technician
Azola Mtangai – Chief Engineering Technician

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