The Ekurhuleni municipality has given journalists insight into some of the key industrial and infrastructure developments being built in the metropolitan, including the Harambee bus-rapid transit (BRT) system and the Lords View Industrial Park.

During the media tour, on Tuesday, Ekurhuleni senior protocol events officer Ivan du Plessis pointed out that the buses to be used for the BRT project would be equipped with WiFi access. Traffic lights along the Harambee network would also make use of an intelligent signalling system to help the buses move through traffic quicker.

Construction of the Harambee BRT infrastructure started in April last year. The project aims to connect the nine towns that make up Ekurhuleni, namely Benoni, Germiston, Springs, Kempton Park, Edenvale, Nigel, Brakpan, Boksburg and Alberton.

Ekurhuleni economic development facilitator Yusuf Mayet noted that the first station would be completed later this year and pointed out that the stations along the Harambee network had been designed to resemble aircraft, to reflect the metropolitan’s ambition of transforming into Africa’s first aerotropolis.

The Ekurhuleni Aerotropolis project is aimed at boosting economic activity by providing improved transport infrastructure corridors between OR Tambo International and a number of public- and private-sector funded industrial hubs, such as the Jewellery Manufacturing Precinct and the Lords View Industrial Park respectively.

During a tour of Lords View, Mayet highlighted that developers Lord Trust designed the industrial area as a “green” development that would be looking to provide power to its tenants, which included multinational consumer goods manufacturer Unilever’s first Ola factory in Africa, from a waste-fuelled power station.

The 1.3-million square kilometre industrial park lies within the borders of Ekurhuleni and Midrand.