R864.8 million tender was awarded to Raubex ■ NEWCASTLE

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) awarded four major construction tenders thisweek for projects on the new N2 Wild Coast highway in the Eastern Cape and the N11 in KwaZulu-Natal that are collectively worth almost R7 billion The contract awards will provide a welcome boost to South Africa’s beleaguered construction industry, which has been suffering for several years from a lack of major tender awards Sanral said as much in a statement on Wednesday (01 February 2023):“Theseawardswillhelp boost the construction sector and should be seen as part of the broader national effort by government to invest in economic infrastructure” These tender awards follow

Sanral in November last year awarding four contracts valued at R174 billion that werecancelledearlierin2022 The cancellations were because of a material irregularity in the tender process, with a board resolution made in January 2020 not being implemented in the evaluation of these tenders Local JSE-listed construction companies WBHO and Raubex feature prominently in the latest tender awards One of the several tenders include the upgrade of the N11 from the N11/R103 Interchange to Elandslaagte hereinKwaZuluNatal, which connects Ladysmith andNewcastle This R864.8 million tender was awarded to Raubex Construction and is a 39month project.