Sanral to take over 11 500 km roads from provinces
According to the chief executive officer of the South African Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), Reginald Demana, more than 6 000 kilometres of road have already been offered to the agency by various provinces.
Speaking at the official launch of the Vala Zonke pothole repair war room, an initiative aimed at improving the state of South Africa’s roads, Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga said that they’ve had a positive response from provincial governments.
Last week Chikunga was in the North West after Premier Bushy Maape was criticised for suggesting the roads in that province were in good condition.
The minister confirmed the state of the province’s roads had drastically deteriorated, adding that a plan was already in place to refurbish national roads.
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She said the Department of Transport had transferred R106 billion of the provincial road maintenance grant to provinces for road infrastructure, which they underspent by R10 billion.
“It’s R13 billion for this financial year, but that R13 billion is shared among the nine provinces. That is why our request for provinces is that they match whatever we send to them. So that if we say R1.4 billion, then the North West province says, ‘We also are matching you with R1.4 billion’.
“But sometimes it doesn’t happen like that because of unequal resources in provinces.”
Sanral is already responsible for over 23 500 kilometres of the country’s road network, and the transfer of identified provincial roads will take that up to the agency's 35 000 kilometres threshold.
“The network was identified more than 10 years ago. It’s just that the transfer has taken much longer because there are no timelines. This initiative we have started with the minister is to accelerate those transfers,” said Sanral CEO Reginald Demana.
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He said the national transport department had encouraged those provinces yet to submit to do so.
“The roads are known; we know the network. It’s a matter of the premier submitting the letters to the minister, and we process and gazette because we want to do it all at once.”
The minister acknowledged the backlog in addressing the deteriorating state of the country’s roads.
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Minister Chikunga said the concerned government departments and the private sector, particularly in mining and agriculture, are working together to address the country’s road problems.
She said the regression at state-owned rail company Transnet has resulted in an increase in trucks transporting freight by road, putting strain on roads not designed for that kind of traffic.
Chikunga’s adamant that not all the road damage experienced by motorists results from poor workmanship or a lack of maintenance.
The minister said while they may enter into partnerships with the private sector to maintain roads, the government remains the custodian of roads.
“There are already companies that are assisting in that regard. There are some that we are engaging with, and they are asking a few questions. We remain the custodian of road infrastructure as a government. It doesn’t matter who is maintaining the road, so we take liability.”
The government has discouraged road works of any scale that the relevant road authorities have not approved.
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