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

“To be the leading, people centered municipality excelling in economic growth, development and governance”• The R547.To maintain the critical coal haulage road network, the Mpumalanga Department of Roads and Transport(MDRT) has to spend virtually its entire budget on those stretches of road forming part of the coal network,most importantly the Carolina – Volksrust and the Bethal – Standerton corridors (being the overall busiestcorridors). Consequently, tourism routes, public transport routes, and basic access roads in rural areas arebeing neglected.Proper maintenance of the road network is of critical importance, as it provides economic linkages as well asaccess to different facilities. A poor quality road network negatively affects the economic and socialdevelopment opportunities of an area. This is thus critical to address in order to development opportunitieswithin the LLM.Figure 18: Road ConditionsRailThe most important railway line is the Johannesburg – Durban passenger railway line (Shosholoza Meyl) whichruns parallel to the R23. Standerton Station is one of only five stops between Johannesburg and Durban.Other stops are Germiston, Newcastle, Ladysmith and Pietermaritzburg. This is also a freight line.This line diverts in the region of Standerton with a branch line leading to Vrede in the south (freight line) as wellas a line that leads to Tutuka Power station, this line however is not currently in use as it is not electrified.There is another railway line in the eastern part of the LLM. It links linking Bethal to Volksrust via Morgenzon,Amersfoort, Daggakraal and Wakkerstroom/Sizameleni. This line is not currently in use.65 | 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