SANRAL to relaunch Road Maintenance Tenders after procurement setbacks
The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) says it is moving ahead with a new procurement process after resolving legal disputes that delayed the appointment of Routine Road Maintenance service providers.
Speaking during a media briefing on Tuesday, SANRAL outgoing chief executive officer Reginald Demana addressed procurement matters currently in the public domain, including allegations of corruption, litigation and the challenges that led to delays in awarding contracts.
He explained that SANRAL launched a procurement process in 2024 to appoint 20 contractors for five years, replacing a system that previously involved "hundreds" of service providers.
While the smaller panel was intended to improve efficiency, Demana acknowledged that the decision had significant consequences for businesses that had relied on SANRAL contracts.
"I must admit we were selfish. The efficiency of running a small panel, a small number of service providers, manageable. But what about those who were there who probably established businesses on the basis of doing this work for us? It worked for us, but maybe it could have had devastating consequences for others."
Following the appointment of the panels in 2025, two court applications challenged the process.
Demana said SANRAL's internal review identified irregularities in how the final panel of 20 contractors had been selected, resulting in parts of the process being declared unlawful and unconstitutional.
He said the agency accepted the findings and, on legal advice, extended existing contracts while the litigation was underway to ensure that critical road maintenance services continued without interruption.
"We saw that there are some irregularities around how we came down to 20. And those were then declared unconstitutional, valid, unlawful, because you have to stick to the rules of tendering and how you evaluate people. And we fell short."
Demana said the legal matters have now largely been resolved, the contract extensions have been ratified by the new board, and SANRAL is preparing to return to the market with a new procurement process that complies with legal requirements.
He added that the current extension will be the last, with the agency now focused on appointing new service providers through a transparent and legally compliant tender process.
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