The public should not be misled by false claims that government has decided to scrap outstanding e-
toll debt.
Statements that debt has been written off are misleading and may lead to consequences for people
who still owe money for travelling on the Gauteng e-toll network.
This means that all monies owed to the state must be paid and no debt has been written off. E-toll
debt was reported as impaired, but an impairment is not a write-off.
An impairment assessment is required in terms of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
It is an accounting methodology to consider the time value of money (how long will it take to collect)
and the probability of collection.
SANRAL’s CFO Inge Mulder states: “The most crucial thing to understand is that no debtor has
received a credit note reducing their debt.
“It is a judgement call, and if you look at the detail you would note that we have basically provided for
accounts with a value of less than R500, where the chances of us pursuing that debt in the short-term
is small – so the time-value of money calculation then reduces the debt to the net present value.
“We have also impaired debt of entities in business rescue.
“There is an argument which says the opportunity to lay a civil claim prescribes after three years,
which means from 3 December 2016 some transactions that have not yet been summonsed could be
prescribed. So, we have provided for this too.
“However, the fact remains that criminal offences never prescribe and failing to pay toll is a criminal
office which means that we will never write off the debt.
“The majority of this impairment is based on our judgement that due to the standard tariff, which was
lowered with the new dispensation to 30c/km, may be considered when settling historic debt which is
at R1.80/km. We have never recognised the alternate tariff as revenue because a discount could be
provided, so our revenue has always been standard tariff. The debtor still owes R1.80/km.”
Creative partnerships between universities and state-owned companies may hold the key to improved
outcomes in maths, science and technology subjects and open more career opportunities for
matriculants.
One such programme is already in place – and achieving results – at the University of the Free State
through an endowment from SANRAL to sponsor a Chair in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and
Technology Education.
The need to train more high school learners in these gateway subjects is well-documented and often
raised by educators, academics and leaders in government, business and civil society. The National
Development Plan has elevated it to a priority. However, the most recent White Paper on post-school
education and training concludes that the country “is still not producing enough science, engineering
and technology graduates to meet its economic development objectives.
The Academy of Science in South Africa – ASSAf – a statutory body established by its first patron,
former President Nelson Mandela, has brought together some of the leading thinkers in this field and
supported research studies and publications that looked at best global practices and innovations that
can be adapted and introduced within the local context.
The good news can be found in the growing number of private and public-sector initiatives that are
reaching school children from early ages – especially in rural and underprivileged communities – with
enrichment programmes and extra classes over holidays and weekends to augment the regular
classroom experience.
Again, SANRAL and the University of the Free State is at the leading edge of such initiatives through
its Family Math and Family Science Programme which reaches deep into rural communities in four
provinces and provides support to both learners, teachers and parents. We produce learning material
and teaching aids to make maths and natural sciences fun and we mobilise parents to encourage
their children to continue with subjects that are often wrongly labelled as “difficult” and “inaccessible.”
The steady improvement in matric pass rates over the past three years – including in the Free State,
which is the best performing province – hopefully indicates that we have turned a corner, but it also
encourages those of us involved in the education sector to redouble our efforts to maintain this
trajectory.
Through the SANRAL Chair in Mathematics, Natural Sciences and Technology Education we take a
few steps further to ensure we make a deep and lasting contribution towards solutions for this national
priority.
There is broad agreement that the challenge to improve the quality of teaching and learning in
science and mathematics require more than just a one-dimensional intervention. The issue that often
eludes us is how to find creative ways to do it.
We follow a multi-pronged approach that combines cutting-edge research in science and maths
education with the training of educators and the recruiting of talented high school students into the
teaching profession.
This dual focus on both research and practice makes the SANRAL chair initiative a truly multi-
dimensional and unique intervention in science and mathematics education.
On the one level we reach into communities by working with provincial and district education
authorities, and providing teachers with support material based on the most recent trends in research
and publications.
Through the programme we help to train teachers, support student-teacher interns and incentivise
education results so that participating schools become centres of excellence on their own – and
talented learners no longer have to migrate to better-resourced schools to access quality education.
In addition, our objective is that the learners who benefit from this initiative will become part of a talent
pool from which the next generation of engineers, teachers, artisans and technicians will be drawn.
At the other end of the curve we have already supported and produced 15 doctoral and six Master’s
graduates in the four years since the Chair was established in 2014. A further 43 post-graduate
students are currently in the pipeline. Many of our graduates and current students occupy key
decision-making positions at universities and education departments within the Southern African
region.
For example, the education director of the Fezile Dabi district, the best performer in the country for
two years in a row, is a final year doctoral candidate in the SANRAL Chair. Our first female doctoral
candidate in mathematics education, Dr Mamiki Maboya, currently serves as the Deputy Director
General of Basic Education.
I have no doubt that through this programme we are influencing the way in which science and maths
teaching taking place throughout the region and that our impact will become increasingly visible in the
years to come.
It is no exaggeration to claim that the SANRAL chair is making a valuable contribution to change the
landscape of science, mathematics and technology education in Southern Africa. The logical next
step might be to establish a regional centre of excellence to service the entire SADC-pool of
countries.
The partnership between SANRAL as a state-owned entity and the University of the Free State has
already produced copious benefits and can serve as a proven and successful model that can be
studied and replicated elsewhere in our region.
Through this initiative we as public-sector entities are making tangible contributions to society and
providing solutions to one of the most pressing needs in the education system.
Prof Jita is the Dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of the Free State.
Primary and high school learners showed off their art skills, painting murals on more than 40 dilapidated bus stops in their area.
First place went to Bathandwa Ndondo Senior Secondary School located in Mnxe Village. Painted in the beautiful colours of an African sunset, with a silhouette of the bushveld, the bus stop mural they created can be seen 48.6km along the route.
Learners from 12 Eastern Cape schools have helped beautify 40 run-down bus stops along the R410 national road between Lady Frere and Quiba.
The schools took part in a mural competition run by South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) as part of a community involvement initiative to uplift and inspire ownership of the recently rehabilitated R410 road.
The 36 learners, from both primary and high schools, were provided with the paints and brushes needed to decorate the bus stops, while the road agency put traffic calming and safety measures in place on the days that the painting took place.
“Forty-four bus stops located within the project limits that were found to be in poor condition were included in the initiative,” SANRAL southern region manager, Mbulelo Peterson, explained.
“Competition participants were given a timeframe in which to complete the murals and the winning murals were selected by the project engineer, project manager and contractor.”
Winners
First place went to Bathandwa Ndondo Senior Secondary School located in Mnxe Village. Painted in the beautiful colours of an African sunset, with a silhouette of the bushveld, the bus stop mural they created can be seen 48.6km along the route.
Second place went to Nompumelelo Junior Secondary School from Percy Village in Lady Frere, while Ntlalontle Junior Secondary School, also in Lady Frere, took third place.
Their bus stops were adorned with symbols of the country: one included the South African flag and a depiction of a young Nelson Mandela and reference to his book Long Walk to Freedom, while the other showed a typical rural scene replete with familiar hills in the distance and a homestead surrounded by trees and dam.
“I am so proud of how well the children at our school do in visual art as a subject,” says Bathandwa Ndondo Senior Secondary School principal, Busisiwe Gqweta. “The children are so happy they won. The money will be used to buy material for painting.”
Sibaphiwe Manyingiza, a Grade 12 learner at Bathandwa, said this was the first time he had participated in a competition. “This was such a wonderful experience. Winning the competition means so much to us,” he said.
Another Grade 12 learner, Mthetho Matomela, dreams of being a professional artist one day and wants to study art after high school.
Grade 11 Buhle Gomba is passionate about art and was happy to have been part of a winning team. “We need more people to come to our school and work with us on art projects,” he added.
Taking ownership of local facilities
“The finished bus stops add to the aesthetic of the completed road and beautify the area through which this portion of the R410 traverses,” Peterson said.
The initiative assisted the community take ownership of the facilities that they make use of on a daily basis, according to Peterson, and this would help ensure the bus stops were not vandalised in the future.
A recurring theme in the murals was one of road safety, indicative of the impact that such a road has on local communities. “It is hoped that the completion of this project, including the safety improvements that were undertaken, will contribute to improved road safety for those that live and work along this section of the R410,” Peterson said.
The community involvement initiative followed the completion of SANRAL’s periodic road maintenance project on the R410.
The R60-million project included maintenance on the existing roads in the area, repairing potholes, fixing cracks and replacing stones. Road safety signage and pedestrian safety measures were also improved.
“SANRAL is looking to implement similar community involvement initiatives across the region,” Peterson concluded.
South Africa’s national road agency is going all out to make sure black businesses in the construction sector are supported by everyone involved.
Macozoma said the roads agency was unwavering in its commitment to ensure inclusive participation of black South Africans in opportunities generated by SANRAL.
The national roads agency is unwavering in its commitment to the inclusive participation of black South Africans in opportunities generated by its investment in the construction sector and related industries.
Established businesses with existing contracts with The South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) – particularly white-owned businesses – should assist the agency to realise its transformation objectives if they wished to continue doing business with the agency.
This was the resounding message from SANRAL CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma at a business function held recently at the East London International Convention Centre.
Macozoma said the roads agency was unwavering in its commitment to ensure inclusive participation of black South Africans in opportunities generated by SANRAL: “We are geared up to roll out the policy on 1 April 2018.” The implementation date of the policy depends on approval by the Minister of Transport and the Cabinet.
More than 100 delegates attended Macozoma’s presentation, including kings, traditional leaders and representatives of the provincial Congress of Traditional Leaders of South Africa’s (Contralesa) youth wing, as well as delegates from the South African National Civic Organisation (Sanco), South African Women in Construction (SAWIC), EC Black Contractors Association, Small Enterprise Development Agency (Seda), youth business chambers and individual contractors from across the Eastern Cape.
SANRAL’s commitment to transforming the construction sector was commended by those in attendance.
SANRAL in the Eastern Cape
SANRAL manages 4 952km of roads in the Eastern Cape – 22% of the total 22 190kms that traverse all nine provinces.
The agency’s Eastern Cape flagship development is the N2 Wild Coast project, a 410km stretch of road from East London to the Mtavuna River on the border between the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal.
In addition to the N2 Wild Coast project, SANRAL has a further 116 projects in the initiation, design and construction stages in different parts of the province over the next three years.
Inclusive participation
Since 2009, SANRAL has injected R33.3-billion into the provincial road network. Of this, R11.7-billion was allocated over the past two years; R5-billion in 2016/17 and R6.7-billion for the financial year ending in March 2018.
However, only 10% of SANRAL’s national R20-billion expenditure in 2016/17 was spent on black SMMEs.
“Changing this trend is non-negotiable,” Macozoma said. “We want to see more black women, youth, people with disabilities and military veterans getting a sizeable increase in our spend and participating in our bursary and scholarship programmes, internships and [Port-Elizabeth based] Technical Excellence Academy.”
The success of SANRAL’s transformation policy rests on six levers:
Ownership buy-in from the large construction sector;
Equitable access to contracts across the Construction Industry Development Board grades;
Community empowerment, with an emphasis on local sourcing;
Supply chains that provide black businesses with access to equipment and materials;
Healthy competition, including toll operations and other supporting sectors in SANRAL’s business; and
The South African National Road Agency (SOC) Limited is working with Buffalo City to review the costs of the proposed Buffalo River Bridge.
The proposed Buffalo River Bridge and arterial road link between the N2 and R72 has been a long-time in the planning.
The South African National Road Agency (SOC) Limited (SANRAL) and the Buffalo City Metropolitan Municipality have been in talks over the proposed Buffalo River Bridge city bypass.
The proposed Buffalo River Bridge and arterial road link between the N2 and R72 has been a long-time in the planning. This development would reduce congestion in East London’s central business district, providing road-users with a bypass to the west of the city.
SANRAL had agreed to assist in review the feasibility study – including the costs, said head of spatial planning and development at Buffalo City, Nonceba Mbali-Majeng. This would help in raising funds for the project.
Talks were held between SANRAL and the metro in May and July 2017, and a progress report was recently tabled before council. Other stakeholders involved in the project are the East London Industrial Development Zone (IDZ), the Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA) and the Border-Kei Chamber of Business.
Initially an estimate for the construction of the bridge and bypass was set at R300-million in 1998, and was now an estimated R615-million, if the project was divided into phases. “Should the project be phased into four contracts, the cost is estimated at R793-million if one assumes a 5% increase per annum,” said Mbali-Majeng.
More stakeholders would be identified during the feasibility study review period, Mbali-Majeng said.
Border Kei Chamber of Business chairperson Les Holbrook said there were a number of roads the chamber wanted the roads agency to take over. “We have seen that the only way to get the roads in good condition is when SANRAL takes over.”
The chamber had held a meeting with SANRAL in May 2017, and had also been lobbying for the project to be government funded, he added. “There are various funding tools that can be used; one of them is the municipal infrastructure grant. They must apply for those.”
A long time coming
“We have been asking for this road for more than 15 years,” Holbrook said.
Buffalo City revived the plan in 2016 and roped in SANRAL, with the intention of SANRAL taking over the project and redefining it on their own terms and conditions.
All parties agreed the project should be phased and all resources be directed to the first phase to get the project to the implementation stage, Mbali-Majeng said.
“SANRAL [has] committed to redo the analysis of whether the proposed route is still cost effective due to the time lapse between 2004 and 2015.”
The agency had agreed to review the project and its associated costs and “thereafter the revised costs would be used to request contribution to project by the various affected stakeholders”, Mbali-Majeng added.
SANRAL is in the process of preparing a project implementation plan for the route analysis which will be presented to Buffalo City at its next progress meeting.
Stakeholders in construction and related industries met SANRAL in 34 workshops in more than 30
cities and towns across the country. Here individuals, companies and organisations that might be
affected by SANRAL’s new direction discussed their future roles and contributions. These sessions
were based on the road agency’s long-term vision, Horizon 2030 and its draft transformation policy.
SANRAL and its construction partners teamed up at a cost of R1.4m to address the youth
unemployment crisis in Malmesbury, which is on the N7. 22 learners received certificates for
completing NQF Level 3 and 10 for NQF Level 4. These were all focused on various construction
disciplines.
The four haul roads for the N2 West Coast Road Project are close to completion. They will facilitate
the movement of materials, equipment, machinery and workers to the Msikaba and Mtentu bridge
projects. They are essential support structures for these major bridges which require specialised
engineering skills and building techniques.
All construction on the R573 Moloto Road is shut down for the December holidays but will resume on
8 January 2018. Routine road maintenance work went on uninterrupted. The road will be open to
traffic during the shut-down period. Progress on the upgrade is on schedule.
Investment in infrastructure and the good governance of state-owned entities were recurring themes
in the Medium Term Budget delivered in Parliament at the end of October by the Minister of Finance,
Malusi Gigaba.
The extended policy statement released with the speech emphasises that “difficult trade-offs will need
to be made” to avoid a deterioration in the national road network should government decide not to use
tolling as a funding mechanism for major freeways.
Mr Gigaba focused on the important role played by state-owned companies, which he described as
“powerful levers for the state to directly drive economic transformation.” They have played a leading
role in the development of world-class infrastructure which sustains the South African economy.
However, government as the shareholder is also “tired of being dragged into crises” at entities and will
no longer provide bailouts to finance operational expenditure, inefficiency and waste, he said.
The Budget Statement notes that SANRAL has been provided with an extended guarantee of
R38.9bn to expand its toll roads portfolio. In response to public concerns about electronic tolling in
Gauteng, SANRAL introduced a lower-cost dispensation. However, collections remain lower than
projected, making it difficult for the agency to service its debt.
Government has clarified the conditions of the SANRAL guarantee. This gives SANRAL more room to
borrow under the guarantee and allows the agency to service all its commitments over the medium
term.
Over the longer term, an improvement in toll revenue collection is needed to ensure SANRAL’s
sustainability. If government does not proceed with tolling to fund major freeways, difficult trade-offs
will have to be made to avoid a deterioration in the national road network.
Issues to note:
1. Transport and logistics are at the core of the implementation of the National Development Plan. Reforms will be introduced to drive down port and rail prices, improve global
competitiveness and boost the tourism sector, which is a critical source of revenue.
2. Changes to government’s procurement policies are already yielding results. This includes
targeted procurement from SMMEs and designated groups such as black youth, women,
township and rural enterprises.
3. Supply chain reform is working. The introduction of expenditure ceilings and cost containment
measures in the public sector has already led to savings of more than R2bn. The fight against
abuse of the supply chain management system is being extended to cover both public and private
sector corruption.
4. Spending on infrastructure will grow rapidly. The lion’s share of infrastructure is provided by
state-owned entities – R403bn over the next three years. A new approach will focus on the
maintenance of existing infrastructure, improved procurement and better conditional grants to
eliminate inefficiencies and underspending.
