Environmental Assessment Report for Reference: 109578 Prepared for: the Environmental Impact Assessment: Swaziland Railway The Proposed Upgrade and new Revision: 1 Construction related to the 1 April 2014 Development of the Swaziland Rail Link Project, from the Sandlane border, through Sidvokodvo to the Lavumisa border. Environmental Assessment Report for the Sandlane to Lavumisa section of the Swazi Project 109578 File Swaziland EIA report rev01.docx 1 April 2014 Revision 1 Environmental Assessment Report for the Environmental Impact Assessment: The Proposed Upgrade and new Construction related to the Development of the Swaziland Rail Link Project, from the Sandlane border, through Sidvokodvo to the Lavumisa border. Date 1 April 2014 Reference 109578 Revision 1 Aurecon South Africa (Pty) Ltd 1977/003711/07 Aurecon Centre Lynnwood Bridge Office Park 4 Daventry Street Lynnwood Manor 0081 PO Box 74381 Lynnwood Ridge 0040 South Africa T +27 12 427 2000 F +27 86 556 0521 E
[email protected] W aurecongroup.com Project 109578 File Swaziland EIA report rev01.docx 1 April 2014 Revision 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY INTRODUCTION Aurecon South Africa (Pty) Ltd have been appointed by Transnet State Owned Company (SOC) Ltd (hereafter referred to as Transnet) in collaboration with Swaziland Railway to undertake an Environmental Impact Assessment process in an effort to obtain authorisation for the proposed Swaziland Railway Link and associated upgrades project. PROJECT BACKGROUND AND MOTIVATION Transnet in collaboration with Swaziland Railway identified the construction and upgrade of the railway line between Davel in Mpumalanga and Richards Bay in KwaZulu-Natal, connecting via the Swaziland Rail Network, as a strategic project.