E-tolls not Sanral's only project: Ali

It is unfortunate that the SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) is only known for the Gauteng e-toll project, chief executive Nazir Ali said on Monday.

   

"Eighty-four percent of our business is non-toll; there is only 16 percent of our business which is a toll road portfolio," he said speaking at The New Age's business breakfast in Midrand.

   

"That toll road portfolio does make a large contribution to the well-being of our entire national road network."

  

Ali said 75 percent of freight in the country moved on those particular roads, which showed how important the network was.

   

"Can we for one moment just imagine that if we didn't have a good national road network, as to what would happen to the economy?

   

"Of course together with that goes the old issue about job creation, [and] the development of SMMEs [small, medium and micro enterprises]."

   

Sanral had 800 SMMEs looking after the entire road network in South Africa, he said.

   

-Sapa