Community benefit has been a key spin-off in rural infrastructure projects in the Free State, where township roads, some of which are falling to pieces, are undergoing upgrading and repair.

In just one road improvement project alone, in the sleepy town of Bothaville, temporary jobs have been found for 90 unemployed men and women to help in the  paving of gravel roads, using 18 000 m² of Technicrete’s popular Double Zig-Zag concrete pavers. Daniel Qophe, owner of the contracting company Qophe construction, says:

“There is a double benefit here – people are finding work while improving their own living environment.”

The concrete Technicrete pavers will surface about 2,5 km of gravel road in the township.

“Community involvement – finding jobs for local people – is very important for us,” Qophe says.

“We use local labour whenever we can. We have experienced paving staff on our payroll that pass on skills to many of the men and women we hire for local upgrading jobs.”

In addition to resurfacing gravel roads, Qophe, which has been running for 12 years, is carrying our remedial work on another km of road which the previous contractor left unfinished – “in a terrible state.”