OVERVIEW Transport and
OVERVIEW Transport and logistics SANRAL is experimenting with new road technologies. Several strategic roads within the province have been handed over to the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL). Given the national importance of Mpumalanga’s highways in terms of transporting coal to power stations and the volumes of traffic between the province of Gauteng and Mozambique, the transfer makes sense. Some of these roads will be the focus of pilot projects in which SANRAL will trial nano-technology and materials. In recent years, several interchanges have been constructed or upgraded by the agency. These include the interchanges at Machadodorp, Karino and Montrose. Provincial government programmes in the term of office which finished with the elections of May 2024 saw 76 projects completed under the Integrated Rural Mobility and Access programme. These include 17 bus shelters, 10 footbridges, 29 culverts, 15 bridges, four walkways and one multi-modal facility. Approximately 75 000 children are transported to school daily through the province-wide scholar-transport programme. The performance of the Maputo Corridor has enabled one of South Africa’s biggest logistical carriers to continue to post good financial results. With the N3 highway between Johannesburg and Durban often congested and delays at the ports of Richards Bay and Durban, Super Group, which operates in 21 countries, reports that the route through Mpumalanga to Mozambique is functioning well for its trucks. Trans Africa Concessions (TRAC), the toll road company, will spend R248-million on expanding capacity on the bridge over the Crocodile River and creating an upgraded roads junction at the Montrose interchange. Two new bridges will be built to provide access over the Elands Valley section of the road. The Motheo Group, in a joint venture with WBHO, has been working on the N4 for TRAC, which has also parcelled out some work to Raubex Construction. The province’s roads carry heavy traffic that feeds coal mines and power stations. The Provincial Government of Mpumalanga has purchased mechanised pothole-patching vehicles in response. It is expected that many jobs will be created in this attempt to improve the strategic road infrastructure network, which includes tourism routes. ONLINE RESOURCES Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport: www.kmiairport.co.za Maputo Corridor Logistics Initiative: www.mcli.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Scholar transport assists 75 000 children. The tunnel at Waterval Boven. There is more freight rail traffic in Mpumalanga than in any other province. This is principally because of the transport of coal, but there are also large volumes of chrome, ferrochrome, forestry products, chemicals, liquid fuels and general freight. The Balfour North to Volksrust section of the Gauteng to Durban mainline carries the largest volumes, most of which is longhaul freight passing through the province. Despite these high rail volumes, a huge amount of mineral product is transported by truck around and out of the province. This puts immense pressure on Mpumalanga’s roads network, particularly in the Gert Sibande District and the Nkangala District. ■ MPUMALANGA BUSINESS 2024/25 40 PHOTO: Thuvack / Wikimedia Commons
Tourism Radisson Hotels is opening hotels in Mpumalanga. OVERVIEW Radisson Hotels will open the group’s 14th South African hotel in 2024 when the Radisson Hotel Middelburg starts welcoming guests. The R350-million luxury hotel and conference centre project in the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality is a publicprivate partnership. Akani Properties, a black-owned property development company, is working with the Radisson Hotel Group to deliver the 150-bed hotel and convention centre. The recently launched Radisson Safari Hotel Hoedspruit represents the group’s first safari hotel on the continent and illustrates the variety of types of accommodation options on offer by Radisson. Altogether the hospitality company offers 10 brands. As of May 2022, Tsogo Sun Hotels again adopted the Southern Sun brand. With the acquisition of the Hazyview Sun, the group has a total of seven properties in the province, ranging from two StayEasys to Southern Sun Emnotweni in Nelspruit. Tsogo Sun, as distinct from Tsogo Sun Hotels which is no more, has interests in casinos and gaming and runs two hotels in Witbank. Protea Hotels by Marriott has two properties in Mpumalanga. At White River, Premier Hotel The Winkler is 20 minutes’ drive from the Numbi Gate of the Kruger National Park. Forever Resorts has a big presence in the province, including the four-star Forever Resorts Mount Sheba. The Graceland Hotel Casino and Country Club is a Peermont resort in Secunda. Four nature reserves under the control of the Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency (MTPA) now have accommodation facilities, after upgrades to Songimvelo-Kromdraai Camp, Andover, SS Skosana and Manyeleti. In 2024 MTPA signed a strategic partnership with the Aspinall Foundation to elevate the Loskop Dam Nature Reserve to a Big Five game reserve. A collaboration with Greater Kruger Environmental Protection Foundation to fight poaching in Manyeleti has also been initiated. This collaboration includes establishing new pickets, the maintenance of fences and the training of field rangers. Tourism Safety Monitors have been introduced at key points around the province. In 2024 FlySafair introduced new routes between Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport and Cape Town. Eurowings Discover, a division of Lufthansa, has been flying to Mbombela from ONLINE RESOURCES Mpumalanga Gambling Board: www.mgb.org.za Mpumalanga Tourism and Parks Agency: www.mtpa.co.za South African National Parks: www.sanparks.co.za SECTOR INSIGHT Four provincial nature reserves now offer accommodation. Radisson Safari Hotel Hoedspruit Frankfurt via Windhoek since 2022. Stats SA’s Tourism and Migration Report released in January 2024 placed Mpumalanga second in terms of international tourist arrivals. The Provincial Government of Mpumalanga is looking for more private partners to invest in a sector that has several superb tourism assets, ranging from about 70 parks and reserves to bird-watching, music festivals, car rallies and casinos. A total of R475-million in public and private investments has so far been raised for the Skywalk project at God’s Window in the Blyde River Canyon Nature Reserve. ■ PHOTO: Radisson Hotels 41
