The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is proud to announce the appointment of the new Operations and Maintenance Manager of its Eastern Region, which covers Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.
Dumisani Nkabinde, a former senior Projects Manager, takes over the reins from Manuel de Sousa who has retired after 41 years of service.
He attributes his elevation to hard work, a passion to succeed and excellent mentorship.
Nkabinde said: “I will have very big boots to fill. Mannie has had four decades of experience and is so knowledgeable on almost all aspects of road design, construction, operations and maintenance.
“However, I have worked with him and many other experts within SANRAL for some time and will accept my new responsibilities as a challenge.”
He also acknowledged his supervisors’ Dennis Rossmann, Ravi Ronny and Stewart Wilson who were instrumental in developing his career path.
Logashri Sewnarain, SANRAL Eastern Region manager said: “We congratulate Dumisani on his appointment as Operations and Maintenance Manager and we have faith that he will continue to uphold the high standards.
“We’ve seen Dumi grow over the years and we are very pleased at the progress he has made. His passion for the development of SMMEs will ensure that SANRAL achieves its socio-economic objectives on the ground.”
In his spare time, Nkabinde is an avid cyclist and long-distance runner, having completed two Comrades Marathon and many other ultra-marathons.
Background profile
Nkabinde matriculated from Kanyekanye High School in Paulpietersburg and went on to graduate with a B.Sc. degree in civil engineering from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He also has an MBA degree and a diploma in project management.
His first job was at Eyethu Consulting Engineers, a national consulting engineering firm which he joined in 2003 as an intern engineer and worked his way up to graduate engineer and eventually design engineer.
In 2007 he joined SANRAL as a Projects Manager in the Eastern Region.
However, one of his first projects was in Gauteng – SANRAL’s Northern Region – where he oversaw the widening of the Golden Highway; and design of a pedestrian bridge near Grasmere Toll Plaza and a 10km barrier wall on the N1 adjacent to Orange Farm.
In the Eastern Region, Nkabinde managed the design and construction for the interchanges on the N2 freeway at Kwambonambi and Nkodibe. He then worked on major construction and crushing contracts on the N1 between Glen Lyon and Zandkraal.
Thereafter he had to contend with multiple challenges during the upgrading of 40 kilometres of the N2 from Pongola to the Mpumalanga border. There is a long list of projects that Nkabinde has managed over the years including community development projects, road safety projects, routine road maintenance contracts and road rehabilitation/upgrades projects.
More recently he has managed the construction of an interchange and roads upgrading at Mtubatuba on the N2 North; construction of an interchange and overload control centre at Eteza on the N2 north; and development of a quarry to provide stone requirements on four road construction projects on the N1.
Nkabinde has a special interest in pavement and materials and is chairman of SANRAL’s Pavement and Materials Cluster.
What his new position entails
Nkabinde’s new position will see him take charge of four toll contracts – Mariannhill, N2 south and N2 north in KwaZulu-Natal and N1 south in Free State – and overload control centres.
He will also be responsible for all routine road maintenance contracts in the region relating to, among other services, grass cutting, repairing damaged guardrails, cleaning drains, repairing potholes, road signs, road markings and street lighting.
The maintenance division also takes care of the intelligent transportation system (ITS) and variable message system (VMS) designed to optimise traffic flow, improve road safety and enhance traffic management on the road network.
The ITS monitors traffic flow using 146 cameras in KwaZulu-Natal alone, and collects data. The VMS warns motorists of incidents in real time.
In his new role, Nkabinde would like to foster greater synergy between the design and construction teams and the operations and maintenance teams.
“Operations and maintenance is a role that naturally extends from design and construction. Hence I see the need for greater collaboration and interaction,” he said.