SANRAL: Superior Roads Build a Better South Africa

A well-functioning, well-maintained South African national road network entails benefits to economic growth, tourism, social development, and the creation of economic opportunities. Established in April 1998 to align with staunch government commitments to transform the public sector, SANRAL harnesses a combined professional experience of more than 600 years and has at its disposal a wealth of core skills and experience in road development and management within a motivated and passionate team. 

SANRAL’s Tshwane Pretoria head office is bolstered by four regional offices: one in Tshwane and others located in Cape Town, Pietermaritzburg and Port Elizabeth. SANRAL’s mandate is clear and well-defined: to finance, improve, manage, and maintain South Africa’s vast, and expanding, national road network currently estimated at more than 750,000 kilometres – the 10^th largest in the world – with some 22,000 of these under SANRAL’s management. 

“Our vision is to be a world leader in the provision of a superior national road network,” SANRAL proclaims. “As the custodian of the national road network, we are committed to the creation of economic value for the nation, through the provision of road infrastructure with a motivated and professional team, consideration for community needs and state-of-the-art technology.” 

EMPOWERING PROGRESS 

SANRAL has, over the years, embarked on numerous empowerment initiatives, with some of the principal beneficiaries last year being SMMEs headed by people with disabilities in the construction of the notorious 19-kilometre stretch of the Moloto Road. Most recently came March’s community development project in Tshatshu Village, near Zwelitsha, geared toward fostering local economic growth and empowering emerging contractors. 

The project, connecting Tshatshu Village to key routes, has seen the involvement of 12 subcontractors responsible for crucial tasks like laying macadam, constructing kerbs and building pavements, requiring two to eight individuals each. The project’s impact extends beyond physical infrastructure, with participants gaining valuable, practical experience and skills, and even acting as a springboard to accelerate along Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) certifications, all within a collaborative, supportive environment. 

“SANRAL’S principal tasks are to strategically plan, design, construct, operate, rehabilitate and maintain South Africa’s national roads in order to mobilise our economy,” the organisation delineates, “but equally to undertake research and development to enhance the quality of life of all South African citizens, with particular emphasis on their social and economic well-being.” 

SANRAL’s efforts continue to be guided by its Horizon 2030 strategy, the roadmap defining its long-term vision ad the strategic steps necessary to fulfil this mandate. “This strategy requires us, as a public institution, to place stakeholder engagement at the heart of our work with communities and relevant interest groups,” reveals Chairperson, Themba Mhambi. 

“Every SANRAL project must therefore embrace localisation in the form of the procurement of goods and services from local SMMEs and the employment of local labour. No SANRAL project must pass local communities by.” 

DRIVING SA FORWARD  

Many more SMMEs are set to feel the positive reverberations of SANRAL’s planned R740 million injection into six road maintenance projects in the Kou-Kamma Local Municipality in the Eastern Cape in the coming months. These include a periodic maintenance contract for the N2 National Road from Bloukrans River bridge to Storms River village intersection and another from Storms River village to Wittelsbos, worth R80 million R50 million respectively. 

“The special maintenance project on the R62 national road between the border of the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces is expected to start in June this year and over 30 SMMEs are expected to benefit, with over 200 job opportunities to be created,” said SANRAL project manager Siphesihle Bulose. 

The scope of works will encompass the construction of surface seal, localised surface repairs, crack sealing and edge break repairs. “All SMMEs will be required to undertake assessment and class activities during the training, and they will have to demonstrate competence to be awarded the unit standard,” added Zenande Mpondo of SANRAL Southern Region’s Transformation unit of this golden opportunity for SMME contractors to enhance their business acumen and tendering skills. 

In all, SANRAL’s tenders to be awarded in the first part of this year are worth in excess of R6 billion, in turn entailing a huge boost to the construction industry. “SANRAL is currently adjudicating 77 tenders which will give the construction industry a good start,” informed SANRAL’s CEO Reginald Demana at the close of 2023, “helping to create thousands of jobs and inject billions of rands into the economy. 

“We understand the role that construction and infrastructure development plays in the construction industry and we are squarely focussed on developing, maintaining and improving the national road network in line with our mandate from government.” Demana indicated that over 1,000 bids were received for the 77 tenders, in a clear and unequivocal reminder of the significance of SANRAL projects to the whole construction industry. 

“We are encouraged and at the same time humbled by this overwhelming response,” Demana commented. “It also tells us that the numerous engagements we had with interested and affected parties across the country has paved the way for more effective collaboration with all our stakeholders in the industry.” 

“SANRAL’s projects are about more than just bitumen and concrete,” the company wraps up. “They encompass a broader vision of roads as catalysts for progress – connecting communities, driving economic growth and improving lives.”