Lekwa Local Municipality 2013/14 - Co-operative Governance and ...

“To be the leading, people centered municipality excelling in economic growth, development and governance”Figure 16: Non-Motorized Transport by BicycleRoad NetworkAs discussed earlier, the Lekwa Municipal Area is not directly linked to the national road system. The majorroutes are thus provincial roads and minor roads.According to the Gert Sibande SDF (2009), the following roads play an important role in terms of regionalaccessibility and linkages:• The R23 which runs in a southeast – northwest alignment represents the old route between theGauteng Province and Durban/eThekwini in KwaZulu-Natal, linking prominent towns andsettlements such as Balfour, Standerton and Volksrust to one another. This route virtually runsparallel and to the north of the N3 freeway, which is the main link between Gauteng andKwaZulu-Natal.• The R546 serves as a prominent north – south linkage, linking the towns of Standerton and Vrede(in the Free State Province) to the TEKS industrial complex.• The R547, which links the LLM to Witbank and Middelburg, situated along the N4 MaputoDevelopment Corridor.• Intra-regionally, the R38 links the District’s four most prominent roads (R23, N17, N11 and R36),and the towns of Standerton, Thuthukani, Bethal, Carolina and Badplaas to one another. Interregionally,the R38 serves to link these towns to Vrede in the south, and the important economicactivity areas of Barberton, Nelspruit and Malelane, towards the north-east of the District.• The R35 basically traverses the District in a north – south alignment, linking the central andwestern parts of the Gert Sibande District (specifically the towns of Standerton and Bethal) toMiddelburg/Steve Tshwete, and further northwards where it converges with the N11 corridorextending into the Limpopo Province. To the south it links to the N3 between Gauteng andKwaZulu-Natal via Vrede in the Free State.• Intra-regionally, the R39 serves as the only direct link between the towns of Ermelo andStanderton.• The R50 serves as a link road between Standerton and the industries located within the TEKSArea (Trichardt, Evander, Kinross and Secunda).63 | P a g e - D r a f t i n t e g r a t e d D e v e l o p m e n t P l a n 2 0 1 3 / 2 0 1 4