The South African National Roads Agency is expected to roll-out 43 road construction projects in all district municipalities of the Eastern Cape in the next six months.
This emerged during Eastern Cape Premier, Lubabalo Mabuyane's address at the Provincial Transport Summit in East London on Thursday.
He said the projects which would cost over R11.5 bn over the next three years and will create approximately 12 000 jobs for locals while 30% of the work will go to SMMEs.
The Premier said the province needed to upgrade its road infrastructure to pave the way for economic growth.
"Our road infrastructure is in a poor state and poses a major risk to human life, but also a huge cost driver for government and the private sector," he told delegates.
"We are being forced to convert bakkies into ambulances so that they can withstand our rural terrain. But, more than that some of our roads are death traps and affects the mobility of people," Mabuyane said.
