Bakwena Platinum Corridor Concessionaire (Pty) Ltd, (Bakwena), the private roads authority responsible for the N1N4 toll roads, will soon be launching its Asset Based Community Development (ABCD) Project along the N4. In partnership with Aurecon, Bakwena will seek to appoint and train volunteer Community Champions or Change Agents in the Rustenburg area to roll out the project: Bafenyi ka Bakwena (The Winners with Bakwena) in wards 16, 32, 35, 36 and 42.
“Since our inception in 2001, Bakwena’s goal has always been to build strong relationships within all the communities we serve and Rustenburg is no different. We already have a wonderful relationship with the residents along the N4 and we are very excited to collaborate with them even further on our ABCD Project,” explains Solomon Kganyago, Bakwena’s Commercial Manager. “As such we are looking for individuals to work alongside us to help uplift our neighbouring communities. These volunteers should not only be deeply passionate about their communities but must want to add real value to the lives of those in the wards that they reside in as well as their own. Through our Change Agents, we look forward to helping the Rustenburg communities to realise the value their wards have to offer, and to unlock their individual and group potential.”
The ABCD Project is looking to build on the assets that are already in the community and mobilise individuals, associations, and institutions to come together to understand and develop their strengths, all the while assisting in the growth of their local communities.
Kganyago adds that the goal of Bafenyi ka Bakwena is to improve the social and economic landscape of the community by identifying and mobilising existing assets, and developing entrepreneur and socio-economic opportunities, leaving the lives of the Rustenburg community completely transformed. The success of this initiative does strongly rely on the strengths and talents offered by individuals in the community.
“Bakwena wants the community to play a role in creating a better Rustenburg for all. We are not providing a hand-out, Bafenyi ka Bakwena is providing a hand-up to anyone in the community who truly strives to make a difference in their own lives and those around them. This is what the ABCD Project is all about – allowing the people of a community to make meaningful contributions, and to take pride in the value and work they are doing. And this is why we have called them Change Agents, because these volunteer community champions’ efforts will result in an uplifted, inspired and strengthened Rustenburg,” says Kganyago.
Bakwena’s contract with SANRAL is to design, build, finance, operate and maintain the Bakwena N1 and N4 freeways and to offer thousands of motorists safer and more efficient road infrastructure through the collection of tolls. The routes Bakwena manages consist of a 90-kilometres section of the N1 running from Tshwane northwards to Bela-Bela (Warmbaths) and a 295-kilometre section of the N4 running from Tshwane westwards through Rustenburg and Zeerust to the Botswana border.
“We are excited to be working alongside the communities of Rustenburg and Bakwena looks forward to engaging them and sharing experiences, whilst together we contribute to the social and economic development of Rustenburg and South Africa as a whole,” concludes Kganyago.
