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Confidential and secret are different concepts

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By Vusi Mona

A number of red herrings were dragged into SANRAL’s application to keep certain aspects of the Winelands Toll project confidential at this stage. This has clouded the real issues at stake and contributed nothing to a greater public understanding of the tender and bid processes.

The ruling by the Western Cape High Court brought much-needed clarity on an issue, helped to dispel some of the untruths and half-truths spread about SANRAL and corrected the most glaring misconceptions.

The decision by the City of Cape Town to apply for leave to appeal does not change SANRAL’s position. Obviously, as a responsible corporate citizen we abide by the outcome of the judicial processes. This is an approach which is in stark contrast to many of our critics who often encourage the public to defy court rulings and the country’s laws.

An appeal hearing will provide SANRAL with another opportunity to refute the often repeated accusation that it engaged in a secret tender process and intends to withhold information from the public. This is then equated with the so-called “Secrecy Bill” and a doomsday scenario is painted of a future South Africa where citizens will have no access to information that is in the possession of the state.

Such an approach demonstrates a lamentable lack of understanding about tender processes and fails to distinguish between the concepts of “confidentiality” and “secrecy.” Unfortunately, this appears to be a strategy employed by our opponents to deliberately create confusion in the minds of the public.

The High Court now ruled that no person will be permitted to, unless authorised by SANRAL or the Court, to disseminate, publish or distribute any part of the administrative record.

It confirmed the argument advanced by SANRAL that papers filed by parties to any litigation should only be available to parties and persons who have a direct legal interest in the matter.

What is at issue is that SANRAL has a legislative mandate to maintain and upgrade the national road network in South Africa. In this process SANRAL implements national policies and legislation which have, for more than 20 years, included provisions for tolling.

Recognising the substantial constraints on the national fiscus government introduced tolling as a funding mechanism to ensure the ongoing maintenance and upgrading of national roads in a manner which is both cost effective and ensures the best value for money for South African citizens.

In the Western Cape there is already tolling in place at the Huguenot Tunnel. The City of Cape Town has its own tolling initiative at Chapman’s Peak – all under this legislation.

Thus, it was not a new concept for South Africa, or the Western Cape, when SANRAL commenced the tender process for the tolling of sections of the N1 and N2, better known as the Winelands Route. In line with normal tendering processes SANRAL invited companies and consortiums to submit competitive bids for this project.

The tender bids are by definition confidential. Bidding companies provide confidential commercial information including their engineering and construction plans, their allocation of legal and financial risks and, in this case, their intended toll fee structure. This is the information used by SANRAL to reach a decision on the successful bidder, to shortlist candidates, or to negotiate better terms and conditions.

It is important to note that when the initial action was launched by the City, the process had reached a stage where a preferred bidder had been identified by SANRAL following a comprehensive technical evaluation of the different submissions. The tender has not yet been awarded.

As the recipient of this sensitive information SANRAL has a solemn duty to keep it confidential. To disclose it prematurely would be a gross dereliction by SANRAL and put all future bidding processes at risk. It would have a ripple effect on the integrity, not only of SANRAL, but of all state agencies and organs at national, provincial and local government levels.

Why would any commercial company trust SANRAL, or a government department, or even the City of Cape Town, if there is a possibility that sensitive information will be divulged to competitors before a final tender has been awarded?

It was therefore, we believe, exceptionally irresponsible of the City of Cape Town to launch such an application in court, knowing full well that a judgement in its favour might blow up in its own face in time to come.

The Western Cape High Court ruling was a landmark judgement with implications for the disclosure of any administrative records in the future and is especially relevant for future challenges against state institutions during tender processes. We are confident that this ruling will be confirmed by other courts should leave for appeal be granted.

SANRAL is committed to transparency and fully supports the right of the public to have access to information pertaining to our business and our decisions. Our position has got nothing to do with secrecy but is only intended to ensure the integrity of a competitive bidding process which is currently at a sensitive stage. We will make full disclosure of information pertaining to the Winelands toll tender once the final tenders have been awarded.

*Vusi Mona heads communication at SANRAL.

Mirage, Mirage on the road, who is the tollest of them all

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It was a wonder to see a Mirage on the N1 between Pretoria and Johannesburg. It paid a national road visit in the early hours of 24 September, Heritage Day.

The aircraft left the Waterkloof Air Force Base at 5:30 amMirage 4
and reached the Halfway house in Midrand by 9: 00 am.
It involved the cooperation of SANRAL and the Gauteng Traffic Police.

Mirage 3

The public was asked to avoid the affected routes and alternatively, those who had to use the route were asked to exercise caution and patience. What was allowed was passing to the right of the aircraft; after all, it is the slowest on the road.

In addition, Mobile Police Vehicles (MPVs) and SANRAL’s Routine Road Maintenance team were on hand to provide assistance. All necessary permits had been applied for and approved.

Surprise, surprise!
Mirage 2

As the Mirage passed under gantries, it had to pay toll, setting an example to many road users.

Women in Construction continue to face major hurdles

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Despite the progress made in closing the gender gap and making more opportunities available for women in business, South Africa’s construction industry is one place where being a woman is still a major challenge.

To give you some perspective, according to South African Women in Construction (SAWIC) women hold just 9 % of the jobs in the construction sector. This is a very small number, and not one that shows that any real advancement has been made; especially when you take into account that most (76%) of the positions held by women in the sector fall into the category of office support and other clerical duties.

The public sector in particular has made efforts to address this. There are changes that are not yet reflected in these figures that are slowly but surely happening on the ground. As a woman owner of a construction company these are efforts I can fully appreciate.

Semi government institutions have led the way in enabling this advancement. Their training seminars and workshops, free of charge, have been a marvel in capacitating and developing me. One parastatal that I can mention, without dismissing others, is SANRAL. Through them I underwent comprehensive training and coaching which motivated me to move higher in the industry.

Government has also played its role – their policies for the advancement of women participation in businesses that were previously male dominated has opened up exciting opportunities. Many women, like me, have taken them up and made the most of them despite the many the challenges they may encounter along the way.

There are many things I learned as I struggled to make something of myself in the industry. On top of being a woman, I ventured into the construction business at a very young age. It’s not a business you get into for the sake of being in business; you need to be self-motivated in order to succeed.

The obstacles I came across could have very easily discouraged me. During the time I was undergoing my SANRAL learnership, I had to return my bakkie to the bank because I couldn’t continue with instalments. It was my only means of getting around. This was made worse by the fact that as a single parent I couldn’t stay in Port St Johns in order to be closer to the programme as I would have liked to. The daily commute was both physically and emotionally draining.

I was greatly marginalised as a woman. How I was treated in business had an emotional impact on me. I still remember the feeling of losing confidence in myself, losing my drive and ability to achieve set goals. I constantly struggled with thoughts of never succeeding in what seemed to be male-only territory. This is something that women must overcome and I am grateful for the support and coaching that I received along the way.

It is my strong wish within the next two years to own plant and machinery. I want to go from being a subcontractor to a fully-fledged independent contractor that is involved in the construction of national roads. I would like to attain the highest grading in CIDB sector through hard work and excellent workmanship and keep my feet firmly embedded in the construction sector in order to set benchmarks that other women can be proud of.

I would also like to contribute to the growth of other women owned businesses by way of capacity building, skills transfer and so on. There are a number of things that women can do that will give them an edge in the industry:

  • Find a good trainer / mentor – I am fortunate enough to have been part of the SANRAL learnership. Look out for similar opportunities. This will be invaluable if you want to really succeed in this industry.
  • Passion is key – it’s not just about chasing the rewards – you must have a love for the work. That way you will avoid becoming more interested in what material things the business offers and neglect the nitty-gritties of the enterprise resulting in your venture sinking before it has even surfaced.
  • Be vigilant – every business has its risks and it needs to be approached with caution and alertness. Don’t be deceived by the large amounts of money you receive; avoid extravagance and learn to reinvest for the growth of the business.
  • Be bold – As a business woman you must be able to enter where angels fear to tread. Not only will you need to have a firm grip on developments in the industry, you will also need to network and establish strategic alliances with other business people.
  • Have confidence – It’s been said that cowards die many times before their actual death. I agree – if you have no confidence in yourself you will never get anywhere in life. Admittedly, you will fall along the way but another saying puts it: Never say die!

 

Thabile Nkonki

Owner: Talinko Construction Enterprise

SANRAL Commits To Address E-Toll Issues Raised By President Zuma

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By Vusi Mona

vusimonaThe recent concern expressed by President Jacob Zuma regarding the e-tolling system made constructive contributions to the public debate.

It also enables SANRAL to address some of the positive issues around e-tolling which often get lost in the media and public frenzy about the teething problems we are experiencing.

President Zuma, quite correctly, said that problems in the billing system should be fixed. This has been seized upon by SANRAL’s critics and their uncritical supporters in certain media as if the President expressed reservations about the principle of e-tolling in Gauteng.

This is obviously not true.

The President and Cabinet have been among the most consistent supporters of e-tolling and the system was introduced under their leadership and in terms of their decisions.

What is conveniently forgotten about President Zuma’s interview with the SABC was his broader reference to e-tolling as “… an efficient system.”

Indeed, it is intended as an efficient system, introduced on one of the most efficient highway systems in the world – the Gauteng Freeway network. And since the start of e-tolling in December 2013, SANRAL – with its contractor Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) – is ensuring that the billing system gets progressively more efficient every week.

SANRAL never claimed that the system would be faultless right from the start. It is not realistic to expect that an information technology project of this magnitude will not experience hiccups – especially in the early stages.

The world’s most sophisticated technology leader, the USA, introduced a new healthcare system – better known as “Obamacare” – in exactly the same week in which e-tolling went live in Gauteng. It is public knowledge that the online registration system for Obamacare experienced severe difficulties right from the start.

Some of the technical issues have not yet been resolved two months down the line – providing on-going fodder for political opponents, media critics and late-night comedians.

The reality is that a number of issues come with the territory of any new system of this magnitude. In the case of e-tolling, there are already more close to 1 million registered users who have provided SANRAL with their billing details and requisite information.

The system processes approximately 2.5 million transactions every day. OUTA recently claimed that it has received 900 complaints and the Democratic Alliance referred to 300 people who contacted its public representatives.

One thousand two hundred complaints in a system which handles more than more than 13 million transactions a week can hardly be called a “crisis.” Also, from the 1 million registered users, complaints we have to date received constitute 0.3 percent and of those only 10 percent were found to be valid.

However, SANRAL together with ETC takes every complaint seriously and has undertaken to resolve every issues raised by road users. This is at the core of our undertaking and response to the President to provide the users of our roads with a quality experience.

An analysis of the complaints indicate that a good number of them emanate from inaccurate data on the national traffic information system. As a result, bills are sent are being sent to wrong people. SANRAL and the traffic authorities will soon be engaging in an exercise meant to improve the integrity of the data stored on the national traffic information system.

Some of the complaints relate to users, especially the unregistered ones, not understanding the different tariff categories. If a user does not pay within the 7 days grace period from date of first gantry pass, they get transferred to the Violation Processing Centre (VPC) which attracts a tariff three times higher than the standard tariff. There is a lot of aggravation coming from users who have received notification about having been transferred to the VPC.

The challenges that are there are significant to us – no single complaint is regarded as inconsequential – but not insurmountable. However, to characterise them as a crisis or a mess is a bit on the hyperbole.

*Vusi Mona is head of communications at SANRAL

e-Toll Terror Attacks Threaten our Democracy

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The recent terror-related incidents at SANRAL’s Central Operations Centre in Midrand should be of serious concern to all fair-minded South Africans. It shows that reckless calls for civil disobedience against the e-tolls system can quickly slide into terrorist activity aimed at inducing insecurity within the public and intimidating a state-owned entity and its employees.

While hoax bomb calls and the posting of harmless chemical substances may be a source of humour around dinner tables, it is no laughing matter for the scores of employees who had to evacuate SANRAL premises on three separate occasions. They were subjected to terror threats that traumatised them and their families.

Let’s do some straight talking here – this is no silly prank. It is a crime to endanger the lives of people through real or imaginary threats. It is a crime to violently disrupt transport infrastructure based on ideological and political grounds. Therefore, government is pleased that our investigative agencies have already arrested and charged a suspect.

Many of us will recall the anthrax attacks launched on Washington DC one week after the 9/11 tragedy in September 2001. Letters containing spores of the deadly substance were sent to senior congressional leaders, three television networks and two major publications. It caused the traumatic deaths of five innocent people who handled the envelopes in the mail system and the hospitalisation of 17 more.

Terrorist activities are criminalised under the Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Act. Section 13 of the Act deals specifically with hoaxes and states that “any person who, with the intention of inducing in a person anywhere in the world a false belief that a substance, thing or device is, or contains, or likely to be, or contains a noxious substance or thing or an exclusive or other lethal device” is guilty of an offense.

To its credit, responsible editorial comments in the media have condemned the terror tactics without equivocation. There is no middle road about this. You either condemn it and desist from tacitly encouraging such actions or condone it.

Not so for some groupings opposed to e-tolling, which issue generic statements condemning the incidents, but then call on the public not to over react. Tell that to the employees who were traumatized and had to suffer the indignity of being hosed down and decontaminated.

There are a number of common threads running through the campaign against e-tolling that should concern South Africans who value the democratic processes. The core is that it is open season against SANRAL and the policies of a legitimately elected government. One can not simply abuse the entity at will and threaten its employees without any regard for the consequences.

If one continues to encourage civil disobedience; show no respect for the democratic processes in parliament, and disregard the decisions by the judiciary, one should not be surprised when people resort unlawful, violent and terror activities.

Laws in our country are debated and processed through our democratic parliament. While some political parties lose the debate there, they have the option to take matters further with our courts where they feel aggrieved. But once courts have pronounced on a matter, those who proclaim to believe in the rule of law and the independence of the judiciary should not malign the same judiciary simply because it has ruled against their favour.

SANRAL is obligated to implement the mandate given to it by a democratically-elected government and enacted in legislation passed by parliament. It is discharging its legal mandate in operating the tolling system in our country.

Government, on its part, will strengthen its security systems and give all the support it can to the law enforcement agencies to investigate terror threats; apprehend the perpetrators, and expose the planners.

In the final instance, SANRAL will continue to respect the rule of law. It will abide by the decisions of the court. We expect those opposed to e-tolling to give the people of South Africa the same unequivocal assurance.

(Dr Ismail Vadi is the Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport)