Platinum Highway

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The Platinum Highway is part of the N4 route, and a major South African highway built under concessions with a private contractor. In 2001, the project was voted Infrastructure Deal of the Year by Project Finance International Magazine. [1] It took eight years to complete. The highway is part of the Trans-Kalahari Corridor, which links Pretoria with Namibia via Botswana. [2] The contract had tougher concession terms than were seen in previous contracts. [3]

Contents

The Platinum Highway is the section of the N4 from the Skilpadshek Border with Botswana, through Zeerust, Swartruggens, Rustenburg and Brits, to the interchange with the N1 in Pretoria (Tshwane). The concessionaire responsible for this road is Bakwena [4] and the entire route is a toll road. There are 4 tollgates on the route (one west of Swartruggens; one east of Rustenburg; one east of Brits; one at the N1 interchange).

Background and developments

The Platinum Highway toll route is currently operated by the Bakwena consortium [5] under license from the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL). They operate the sections of the N4 from the Doornpoort Interchange with the N1 in Pretoria to the Skilpadshek border with Botswana, amounting to 295 kilometres. [6] [7] [8] [9] In addition, they operate the section of the N1 from the Proefplaas Interchange in Pretoria to the R516 off-ramp near Bela-Bela, amounting to 90 kilometres. [6] [7] [9]

Bakwena entered into this 30-year toll concession with SANRAL in October 2000, [10] [11] [12] with the contract commencing on 28 August 2001. [13]

Some of the projects done by Bakwena on the Platinum Highway include transforming the 31 km section of the freeway from the Buffelspoort interchange (east of the Marikana Toll Plaza) to the R512 Brits interchange into a dual carriageway from 2009 [14] up to November 2014 [15] [16] and transforming the 32 km section of the freeway from the M17 off-ramp near Ga-Rankuwa up to the R512 Brits interchange into a dual carriageway from March 2018 to October 2021. [17] [18] [19] [20] [21]

There is currently construction of a second carriageway on the Platinum Highway from the R52 intersection just west of Rustenburg to the Buffelspoort interchange after the Marikana Toll Plaza (due for completion in 2028 [22] ), which will make the entire freeway from Rustenburg to Pretoria into a dual-carriageway freeway once completed. [23] [24]

See also

References

  1. ↑ N4 Platinum Highway Project
  2. ↑ Platinum highway opened: South Africa: News: News24
  3. ↑ http://www.investec.com/NR/rdonlyres/4960E39C-E835-47FB-BC18-589D046BFA2D/1827/ProjectFinancearticleEuromoneyTransporationReview2.doc [ dead link ]
  4. ↑ "Home". Bakwena. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  5. ↑ "Home". Bakwena. Retrieved 19 February 2021.
  6. 1 2 "Bakwena About | Bakwena N1N4". 6 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  7. 1 2 Venter, Irma. "Bakwena rolling out multibillion-rand upgrade on N1, N4". Engineering News. Retrieved 21 February 2024.
  8. ↑ McDiarmid, Nicholas (March 2005). "The Rustenburg bypass : PPPs delivering ahead of schedule : Gauteng". IMIESA. 30 (3): 39–41. doi:10.10520/EJC43430.
  9. 1 2 Joubert, Jan-Jan. "Toll road from Pta to Botswana". News24. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  10. ↑ McDiarmid, Nicholas (March 2005). "The Rustenburg bypass : PPPs delivering ahead of schedule : Gauteng". IMIESA. 30 (3): 39–41. doi:10.10520/EJC43430.
  11. ↑ "Bakwena to start various maintenance, construction projects along N1/N4 routes in 2018 - South African Road Federation - SARF". 30 October 2017. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  12. ↑ "CASE STUDY: BAKWENA". aiimafrica.com. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  13. ↑ "Bakwena Toll Route History | Bakwena N1N4". 6 February 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2025.
  14. ↑ SOUTH AFRICA'S EXPERINCE ON ROAD PPP'S
  15. ↑ Odendaal, Natasha. "N1N4 toll route to get R5bn upgrade". Engineering News. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  16. ↑ SANRAL Annual Report 2014/15 - Parliamentary Monitoring Group South Africa
  17. ↑ "Bakwena N4 upgrades on track". www.arrivealive.co.za. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  18. ↑ "JG Afrika | Delivering world-class road infrastructure on the N4 – JG Arabia" . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  19. ↑ Jonck, Johan (5 July 2021). "Bakwena's N4 construction project on track | Construction Safety" . Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  20. ↑ Publications, Crown (25 March 2020). "Opening of R512 Interchange on Bakwena N1N4 route". www.crown.co.za. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  21. ↑ "Bakwena Corridor in R582m upgrade - South African Road Federation - SARF". 27 March 2020. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
  22. ↑ SOUTH AFRICA'S EXPERINCE ON ROAD PPP'S
  23. ↑ "Keeping You Updated | Bakwena N1N4". 11 March 2024. Retrieved 28 April 2025.
  24. ↑ Broeksma, Liesl. "Rustenburg Herald - "Double-crossing" coming soon". www.northwestnewspapers.co.za. Retrieved 28 April 2025.


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