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The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) is making steady progress in developing the multi-billion-rand N2 Wild Coast Road Project which will serve as a crucial economic artery, bringing significant socio-economic benefits and thousands of work opportunities for local communities. The devastating impact of COVID-19 has caused some delays to the project but activities have resumed following the easing of lockdown restrictions according to the government’s risk-adjusted strategy.

The N2 Wild Coast Project entails the construction of two mega-bridge structures on the Msikaba and Mtentu Rivers, seven additional major river bridges and several interchange bridges, as well as new intersection, interchanges, pedestrian walkways and agricultural under and over passes.

SANRAL has noted recent media reports regarding allegations made by a community organisation and wishes to reiterate that it has conducted all necessary consultations and is following due process in developing the project.

SANRAL’s service providers returned to site at the end of July to continue with site investigations. These activities were in line with a community resolution reached at a community meeting held between SANRAL and the community of Bekela together with local municipal and traditional leadership on 18 March 2020. The community was advised of the imminent return to site of SANRAL’s service providers via the local councillor, local traditional leaders and members of the Project Liaison Committee (PLC).

SANRAL’s project manager for the N2 Wild Coast Road Project, Craig McLachlan, said the roads agency’s investigating team has done its utmost to ensure that it works together with local community representatives whilst conducting their surveys. Regarding allegations that SANRAL’s workers had trespassed on the property of locals, McLachlan said: “As far as possible, our investigation team tries not to disturb residents when we go onto sites.

However, there are generally no fences or boundary demarcations in some communities, so it is often difficult to determine if our workers are on someone’s allocated land. If SANRAL dug on a property without consent, as is being reported, that may have happened if there was no one at home to point out the family’s boundary land. It certainly would not have been our intention to trespass on any property and we will continue to work with local community representatives and do our best to ensure that such incidents do not occur,” said McLachlan.

McLachlan further clarified that the community meeting held on 18 March 2020 resolved that SANRAL will have access to a proclaimed road reserve and adjacent corridor to conduct required investigations and surveys into the road that are necessary to finalise specific aspects of the design process. A formal access agreement was signed with the community at the conclusion of the meeting.

“As explained to the community, the access agreement does not constitute a land acquisition agreement as that can only be conducted once the final road alignment is confirmed. At that stage, another round of community meetings and meetings with specifically affected landowners will be held under the guidance of the Department of Rural Development and Land Reform, and it will be done in terms of the relevant legislation for communal owned land.

SANRAL would like to point out that the N2 Wild Coast Road Project holds significant socio-economic benefits for local communities, including an estimated 8,000 direct jobs envisaged for construction work, whilst operational work is anticipated to create 900 direct jobs in addition to the 16-20 000 indirect jobs that will flow from the project,” said McLachlan.

The N2 Wild Coast Road, which stretches 410km from the Gonubie Interchange in East London to the Mtamvuna river near Port Edward, will shorten the current distance by 85 kilometres in comparison to the current route, delivering a travel time saving of between one-and-a-half to three-hours for road-users once it is completed saving the economy R1.5 billion annually.

SANRAL would also like to point out that the overwhelming majority of local communities support the development of this crucial major infrastructure project and it is with this in mind that the development of the N2 Wild Coast Road is proceeding.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) would like to place it on record that Peter Bridge on the N3 is safe for public use.

The prop in place is a contingent support should something happen to weaken the structure further. We do understand that the presence of the temporary prop can be a little visually disconcerting. SANRAL was in the process of appointing a contractor to make permanent repairs to the bridge before the country went on lockdown on 26 March.

“The tender to commence the repair of Townhill and the Peter Brown bridge is still in the evaluation process. Unfortunately, the Covid-19 lockdown has delayed this process but we are expecting to award the supervision contract by November 2020 at the latest” says Hugh Brooks, Eastern Region Project Manager.

The bridge is completely safe but aesthetically unappealing. The bridge was last inspected by the Routine Road Maintenance on 4 August 2020.

With the 2020 academic year facing one of the worst challenges in the history of our young democracy, SANRAL extends developmental support platforms for young people across South Africa, with applications for scholarships and bursaries now open.

Furthermore, the scope of support has been expanded beyond Civil Engineering, to accommodate other related disciplines within the public sector infrastructure development and administration space. Deserving young people are encouraged to make application for this invaluable financial aid before 30 September 2020.

“In recognising the changing landscape in our industry and the often overlooked auxiliary pipelines that feed the public sector infrastructure development sector, we have to look beyond a core discipline built on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and to effectively consider the broader scope of science, technology, reading, engineering, arts and mathematics (STREAM),” said  Adolph Tomes, SANRAL’s Acting Business Operations Executive.

Going forward, the SANRAL scholarship programme will take these factors into account. While SANRAL has a vested interest in promoting the importance of maths and science at school, the agency equally recognises the value of supporting high school learners to complete matric, irrespective of their chosen areas of further development.

Scholarships cover:

• School fees
• Books and prescribed stationery
• Winter and summer uniforms
• Hostel accommodation (where applicable)
• Extra Math and Science classes

Bursaries cover:

• Tuition and registration
• Books and equipment
• Compulsory excursions and seminars
• Accommodation and meals
• Living allowance

In his State of the Nation Address this year, President Cyril Ramaphosa recognised the challenge of youth unemployment. Of the 1.2 million young people who enter the labour market each year, approximately two-thirds are not in employment, education or training (NEETs) and more than half of all young people are unemployed.

SANRAL’s support of young people therefore had to factor in that not all youth finish school, and furthermore, not all those who finish school, take up higher education. This led to the funding of learnerships on various major construction projects across the country.

“We are cognisant of the growing cohort of young people who turn to the road construction industry and as such we strongly support the creation of learnership opportunities that have given thousands of young people access to skills development, knowledge sharing, gainful employment and entrepreneurial support.  In addition, our procurement policies are geared to pave the way for black businesses, and particularly youth-run small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) to benefit from access to conventional construction projects as well as routine road maintenance (RRM),” continued Tomes.

At the recent Sustainable Infrastructure Development Symposium, President Ramaphosa announced that infrastructure would be the flywheel that kickstarts South Africa’s economy during and post Covid-19. This puts SANRAL, as a key driver of infrastructure development, at the forefront of responding to the President’s call.

“SANRAL continues to build on our substantial investment into research and education and now more than ever we are called upon to ensure a continuous flow of skilled, qualified and highly engaged professionals, into the engineering sector and indeed the greater infrastructure development space,” concluded Tomes.

Bursary and  Scholarship applications forms can be found on the SANRAL website.

Road maintenance, rehabilitation and resurfacing projects have been awarded to contractors in the Eastern Cape, the South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd (SANRAL) announced.

“Infrastructure development is key in the acceleration of economic activity and growth. As a roads authority mandated with road infrastructure service delivery, we are happy to be back in operation and rolling out work. These projects will be a crucial boost to economic activity in the province. They will present much needed employment opportunities, more so now given the current economic decline due to Covid-19 and the lockdown,” said Mbulelo Peterson SANRAL Southern Region Manager.

In the Eastern Cape, the seven projects that have been awarded are the following:

• R 39 million for special maintenance of national Route R56 Section 3 from Molteno to Valkfontein (KM 18)
• R65 million for special maintenance Phase 2 Wolwefontein to Jansenville
• R83 million for special maintenance Phase 2 Jansenville to the R63.
• R32 million for special maintenance from Kareedouw to Section 10 Krom River
• R542 million for upgrading Fort Beaufort to Alice road
• R653 million for rehabilitation from the N2 Nqadu to Mbokotwana River and Dans Place
• R44 million for upgrading the R67 from Swart Kei to Queenstown
• R220 million for Special maintenance of R56 Section 4 from National Route 6 (KM 0) to Dordrecht (KM 35.3).

SMME development and participation is an essential component on all SANRAL projects, therefore various work packages have been reserved for targeted enterprises in all the above projects. Training will also form part of SMME development.

Community benefits presented by the projects will include improved pedestrian and road safety, particularly in high traffic spots where learners commute daily on foot to and from school.

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has been made aware of a scam inviting members of the public to tender on its contracts. SANRAL asserts the invitation to tender is fraudulent and did not legitimately emanate from SANRAL

“The invitations to tender are made in the name of a Ms Constance Masedi, supposedly an employee of our supply chain management department. Our internal employee database confirms that we do not have Ms Masedi on our payroll,” says Vusi Mona, SANRAL general manager of communications.

The telephone and fax numbers, as well as the email address used are also incorrect, and are not SANRAL’s official contact details. SANRAL email addresses always include “NRA”, which is an abbreviation for “National Roads Agency”. The email address used in the invitation to tender is tenders@sanrall.co.za.

“We apologise for the inconvenience that this may have caused, and we assure members of the public that we are investigating this matter,” says Mona.

SANRAL Scam Campaign FAQ 

FAQs

1. Why do these fraudulent requests to tender supposedly emanate from SANRAL?

These requests are fraudulent and do not emanate from SANRAL. All SANRAL tenders are published on the SANRAL website. Individuals outside of SANRAL are attempting to defraud people by using SANRAL’s.

2. How can we identify a fraudulent tender request?

The invitations to tender are generally made in the name of a Ms Constance Masedi, supposedly an employee of SANRAL’s supply chain management department. SANRAL’s does not employ an individual of that name.

Also, the telephone and fax numbers, as well as the email address used are incorrect, and are not SANRAL’s official contact details. SANRAL email addresses always include “NRA”, which is an abbreviation for “National Roads Agency”. The email address used in the invitation to tender is usually  tenders@sanrall.co.za. 

3. What about when the invitation to tender is made via a phone call?

SANRAL will not at any time deal with payment certificates or account numbers verbally. These matters will always be dealt with by authorised staff, and in writing.

4. What red flags should contractors or consultants generally be aware of when they get these calls?

Contractor or consultants will get a call from anonymous people who claim to be SANRAL employees. These individuals will ask for details relating to their invoices, payment certificates etc. Then the individual claims that SANRAL made an incorrect payment into the account number of the contractor/consultant and requests for a refund of the amount into an account number specified by the individual. The person will then request for details of all the ‘accounts’ (payment certificates) submitted to SANRAL.

5. What about instances where an individual claiming to be a contractor or consultant’s employee informs SANRAL that the contractor or consultant banking details have changed?

SANRAL will not change any banking details without a letter from the bank confirming the contractor or consultant’s banking details. This confirmation must also be in writing, with the bank’s original letterhead before any changes will be made on the banking details.

6. What about instances where contractors are demanded a payment or a deposit of funds for them to receive SANRAL’s tender documents?

SANRAL will never ask contractors to pay deposit for tender documents. SANRAL employees also cannot influence the awarding of tenders. 

7. Where can I report suspicions fraudulent activity?

You can contact SANRAL’s fraud hotline number on 0800 204 508 or email sanral@tip-offs.co.za. SANRAL also encourages people to lay charges at their local police stations.

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has noted the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (OUTA) plans to lodge a formal application review of its contracts with the N3 Toll Concession (N3TC) and other long-distance toll concessionaires.

In its assertion, OUTA claims that it will turn to the courts because SANRAL refuses to disclose information on the current contract that it has with N3TC, as lawfully obligated by the Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA).

OUTA further claims that contracts with tolling concessionaires need to be transparent and allege that there is a possibility that these concessionaires could be benefiting from excessive profits, part of which may require credit to the road users in reduced toll fees or returns to SANRAL.

While SANRAL agrees that, as a state-owned company, it ought to be transparent in its dealings with third parties, the road agency is also obliged to protect the right of these parties.

“In terms Section of 36 of PAIA, SANRAL has the right to protect the commercial information of third parties. As Section 36 is a mandatory obligation set upon SANRAL to protect the commercial rights of these third parties, we will have no other choice but to defend such an application in accordance with the law,” says Vusi Mona, SANRAL’s general manager of communications.

SANRAL also believes that there is no merit in OUTA’s assertion that tolling concessionaires contracted by SANRAL are making excessive profits. All SANRAL concession contracts contain clauses that prevent excessive profit scenarios.

“All of our concessions’ annual financial statements are independently reviewed by the Auditor General of South Africa,” says Mona.

The rehabilitation of Sections N4-3 and N4-4, between the OR Tambo and Van Dyksdrift interchanges, commenced earlier this year and is now 17% complete. The extensive project awarded to Raubex Construction is valued at approximately R380-million.

The project was initially scheduled for completion in November 2021, but the coronavirus national lockdown resulted in delays. The new completion date has been set for March 2022.

The 19km stretch of the N4 Toll Route was originally built as a concrete road and was overlaid in 2008, as part of a rehabilitation intervention. The current rehabilitation and expansion project includes the removal and replacement of failed concrete slabs and overlaying the entire section. An additional seven kilometres of passing lanes will also be constructed.

Road users are advised that traffic flow will be affected during construction and lane reductions and/or deviations will be in effect. This may result in delays and road users are urged to be patient and plan their trips accordingly.

We would like to thank the public for their cooperation at construction zones along the route and assure you of our continued commitment to keeping the N4 Toll Route in an excellent condition.