Gauteng has invested about R4 billion towards improving the province’s road infrastructure, Premier Panyaza Lesufi told delegates on the first day of South Africa’s inaugural National Transport Conference in Midrand.
Addressing President Cyril Ramaphosa, he said: “We are proud that we are unlocking the road infrastructure in our province.”
The investment, Lesufi said, would go towards maintaining and broadening roads for improved supply chain and commuter access through the country’s most densely populated province.
Prioritisation of Gauteng’s roads comes at a crucial time, with the Provincial Government itself acknowledging the dilapidated state of roads and supporting infrastructure in South Africa’s industrial heartland.
According to data from the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport, 80% of 902 bridges were rated as poor or very poor as far back as 2024.
About 47% of surfaced provincial roads – roughly 2 058 km – are in fair condition, signalling a major preventive maintenance backlog. Potholes remain problematic, with 26 000 of about 31 000 fixed recently, but ongoing reports of thousands pending, alongside legal claims costing R199 million.
However, the province’s transport sector was forging ahead, with improvements across the board, Lesufi said.
Apart from investing in infrastructure, the Provincial Government had also established a Transport Authority with the aim of creating a formal entity to oversee integrated public transport systems in the province, he said.
Lesufi added that as far back as 2019, the Gauteng Transport Authority Act had been promulgated. “It was clear that migration and rapid urbanisation continued to strain public services and transport networks.”
He said the authority had already been leading efforts to improve the transport system and aimed “to ensure that goods and people can move freely in our province”.
Lesufi also hailed the handover at the end of the month of the Gautrain by its current private-sector concession company to the Provincial Government as indicative of improvement in Gauteng’s transport sector.
Taking ownership of the Gautrain on March 28, he said, would be followed by imminent announcements regarding extending the existing network to some of the province’s furthest communities, including Springs.
Lesufi also said his government was committed to “realising the dream” of proceeding with a high-speed rail project connecting Gauteng with KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo, more specifically, the country’s Beitbridge border with Zimbabwe.
The same ambitious rail infrastructure project was mentioned by Ramaphosa during his recent State of the Nation Address.
