Road to recovery: formerly questionable Sanral tenders worth R17bn re-advertised

Five key SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) tenders that were cancelled earlier in 2022 have been advertised‚ transport minister Fikile Mbalula said on Thursday.

They were for R17bn in improvements and construction‚ and included the EB Cloete interchange in KwaZulu-Natal.

The upgrades include the N2 and N3 connection in the same province‚ and the Mtentu River bridge‚ set to become one of the highest in Africa and among the longest in the world when completed.

The plans were cancelled in January through a board resolution‚ with a material irregularity in the tender process said to be the reason. A portion of each project was earmarked for local SMMEs‚ in line with Sanral’s enterprise development programme‚ and expected to create 15‚000 to 20‚000 jobs.

“We must do everything in our power to ensure that the integrity of the award process is not brought into question. Failure to uphold supply chain management principles will result in awards being challenged in courts‚ holding up the implementation of the projects‚” said Mbalula.

“Turning a blind eye to what would have resulted in irregular expenditure and possible litigation would have held up some of these projects in courts for years [and] amounted to dereliction of duty on the part of the board‚” added Mbalula.

Sanral board chair Themba Mhambi earlier said the decision not to approve the awarding of the tenders was necessary due to noncompliance with board decisions regarding procurement processes and to ensure the agency adhered to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA). He added that an independent public institution with infrastructure expertise would be recruited to assist with the advertising and adjudication processes‚ and make a recommendation to the board on the winning bidders.

“I am pleased the board has moved with the necessary speed to address the due process lapses‚ with a clear plan on how to finalise the award of these tenders within the shortest possible time‚” said Mbalula.

The transport minister added that the search for a new board was at an advanced stage and once due process was complete‚ new members would be introduced. Mbalula said an update on the ongoing E-toll crisis‚ which has seen South Africans refusing to pay and adds to the financial hardships of maintaining roads‚ would be given later in 2022.

Meanwhile‚ outgoing board chair Mhambi would present a detailed briefing on the steps Sanral had taken to reach the point of awarding these tenders. Those steps were said by some to have worsened the woes of the construction industry‚ battered by Covid-19 lockdowns.