Public Works and Infrastructure Minister Patricia de Lille has conducted an oversight visit at the N2 Nodal Development, in Nelson Mandela Bay, Eastern Cape.

So far, 20% of civil works have been done, having started in January.

Construction of some top structures will start later in March.

The Minister, as chairperson of the Presidential Infrastructure Coordinating Commission Secretariat, is tasked with monitoring progress of the 62 projects gazetted in July 2020 as Strategic Integrated Projects (SIPs).

The SIPs are part of the Infrastructure Investment Plan, which was established as a credible pipeline of projects across all three spheres of government, State-owned entities and the private sector.

The N2 Nodal Development is a mixed-use catalytic project located along the N2 in Gqeberha. The project has been identified as a strategic development for social and economic upliftment in the region.

The N2 Nodal Development is expected to attract investment of more than R18-billion, comprising various property portions centred around the regional Baywest Mall.

The development incorporates more than 12 000 new housing opportunities together with over 500 000 m² of retail, commercial, office and industrial facilities, as well as community and social facilities.

De Lille stressed the importance of this catalytic project for the region and the key role it can play in achieving the goals of the Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan to grow the economy and create much-needed jobs.

“The project is also exciting in that it will bring different housing typologies together and build integrated developments where people in various income streams can live in well-located development close to transport arterials and economic development.

“These developments are vital to achieving spatial justice and by stopping urban sprawl and bringing people into integrated, affordable and well-located developments thereby reversing the legacy of our unjust apartheid spatial planning,” she concluded.