Sanral denies it's facing a 'fiscal cliff'

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has denied claims it faces a “fiscal cliff”, saying it has the resources and capacity to fix the roads network.

A BusinessTech report this week said the agency in charge of national roads maintenance could no longer expand roads or fully address the growing backlog of maintenance.

The article, which Sanral is quoted in, said these challenges come as government plans to transfer about 15,000km of deteriorating roads under provincial and local governments to the Sanral portfolio.

It said Sanral manages 23,500km of roads, with provinces responsible for 271,500km. Metros are responsible for 66,150km, and municipalities cover 256,900km.

Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona denied the report.

“Though Sanral’s core mandate is to plan, design, build and maintain national roads, the law permits the agency, through national government which is its sole shareholder, to assist provinces and municipalities where the need has been identified.”

Mona said a number of provincial roads continue to be incorporated into the Sanral network, saying this is done “in the best interest of South African society and the country’s economy”.

Sanral assisted government’s mandate to provide quality roads infrastructure in the Vala Zonke project. The agency was asked to co-ordinate the national effort to deal with potholes across all spheres of government.

“For the record, government has over the past medium-term expenditure framework increased its investment in Sanral and the national roads network. Sanral does not face any fiscal cliff,” Mona said.