The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said that it had spent around R27.1 billion on SA’s road infrastructure.
Sanral noted that it spent R4.1 billion on toll roads and R23 billion on non-toll road expenditures in the 2023/2024 financial year.
The agency said R12.3 billion of the R23 billion was spent on capital projects and R10.7 billion was spent on maintenance.
“The significant investments in both toll and non-toll roads underscore our dedication to enhancing South Africa’s road infrastructure, ensuring safer, more efficient mobility for all,” said Sanral Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Reginald Demana.
Examining the financial performance, total assets reached R772 billion, reflecting a 17% increase from the prior year, while cash flow from operating activities rose by 23% and investing activities grew by 7%.
Road creation
In terms of road creation and infrastructure development, Demana said that Sanral had made significant progress.
“On an engineering level, we set out to resurface 1,200km of our network but had in fact achieved 1,984km. This is significantly up from 687.9km in the previous year and speaks to a robust commitment to maintenance and management of our assets,” Demana explained.
Sanral noted that engineering is a core focus for the agency and that against a target of 75%, the organisation achieved 99.6% on Routine Road Maintenance (RRM).
Job creation
Another core focus for Sanral is transformation and job creation. The organisation said that work performed by black-owned small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs was a major priority.
The target for the number of SMMEs involved in Sanral projects was set at 1,800, but Sanral exceeded this by reaching 2,249, a notable increase from the 1,928 achieved in the previous year.
The agency was also able to create 12,652 full-time equivalent jobs.
“Looking at the road ahead, Sanral is on solid financial standing, with R87 billion allocated by the National Treasury for the next three years,” Demana said.
“We are a growing organisation with an increasing network size that currently stands at 24,384km, plus an additional 3,350km of roads under assessment for transfer from provincial authorities,” he noted.
“It has been a challenging year on many fronts, but we have risen to those challenges, guided by our unwavering commitment to infrastructure development that fosters economic growth and drives transformation.”
Sanral reports almost R29 billion in credit losses
While noting it had a solid financial performance, Sanral also acknowledged that it expects credit losses of almost R29 billion due to the non-payment of e-tolls in Johannesburg.
The agency is calling on Johannesburg drivers to pay their debt even though the e-toll system has been scrapped.
The road agency said that it expects a R28.7 billion credit loss from toll debtors using the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).
According to Sanral’s 2023/24 annual report, the organisation has been stressing that customers are obliged to settle their accounts even though the agency has scrapped the e-toll system.
In April, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, along with Sanral and the national Department of Roads and Transport, announced that e-tolls would no longer serve as a revenue source for the government, effectively abolishing the e-toll system.
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