Building South Africa through better roads
SANRAL is changing what so far has been seen as a given that the construction industry is dominated by big corporations with little participation by black-owned companies.
Yet many of our local emerging black-owned businesses do not have the resources to undertake major road construction projects. Lack of capital and adequate financial support, as well as access to other resources such as construction equipment, has them at a disadvantage when they tender for projects.
But a big step away from the past was taken in 2017, when the agency launched its new strategy, Horizon 2030, and a Transformation Policy, which seek to increase the participation of black-owned contractors in the construction and related industries.
The Transformation Policy sets clearly defined targets for the participation of black contractors, suppliers and professionals in all projects and procurement commis-sioned by SANRAL.
According to SANRAL’s Transformation Manager, Ismail Essa, the policy requires con-tractors wishing to secure tenders from SANRAL to be at minimum 51% black-owned in the near future.
While welcoming the progress, some SMMEs wish the pace of transformation was even faster and the net cast wider.
Tshireletso Shebi from Dipako Construction is one of the SMMEs subcontracted by Edwin Construction to work on the rehabilitation of the R34 road, a SANRAL project in Schweizer-Reneke, in North West.
Although he is grateful for the opportunity to work on this project, Shebi believes SANRAL could do more to assist in the development and participation of black-owned companies on road infrastructure projects.
“We are thankful for the opportunity and for SANRAL’s efforts to transform the industry, but we feel the approach does not go far enough,” said Shebi.
He feels that small contractors are not being exposed to mainstream construction, but rather given a small taste of what it takes to build roads.
"If you give a company 30%, it should be 30% of everything. They should be able to do all the work, from earthworks and excavation to the construction of roadbed and road surfacing. This way, they can learn the difficulties that come with building a road, as well as the financial requirements. The national roads agency should at least allocate a section of the project - or some kilometres -
to participating SMMEs, with the main contractor overseeing the work. Shebi believes that small contractors should be taught to stand on their own and be encouraged to take on major challenges, rather than settling for drain works or standard routine road maintenance.
“Achieving transformation will remain a big challenge if companies are not taught to stand on their own. They should not cut corners, but with proper training and grading, they can manage,” he said.
According to Vusi Mona, SANRAL’s General Manager: Communications, the biggest challenge is capacity.
"SANRAL's mandate is to deliver high-quality roads to meet global standards. Small companies do not have the capacity to deliver the complete package. When we issue tenders, they do not bid for the work or meet the set requirements," he said.
But the agency has recognised that it must go further and introduced a joint venture condition, which requires big companies to partner with small companies when bidding for projects.
“Due to the complexity of SANRAL projects, new entrants into SANRAL work require a longer and intense incubation period. Meaningful joint ventures will go a long way to prepare the
new companies to become efficient service providers to the agency. This will help accelerate their growth and improve their grading at the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB),” explained Mona.
The joint venture condition was first introduced with the awarding of two contracts for the rehabilitation of sections of the R573 Moloto Road, one of South Africa’s busiest routes linking Gauteng, Mpumalanga and Limpopo.
SANRAL has also signed agreements with three private companies to make the leasing of heavy road construction machinery easier for SMMEs.
Mona said the roads agency is strongly committed to providing support to black business development through structured development programmes and partnerships with industry players to ensure meaningful and rapid development of black-owned entities.
“There is no magic bullet to resolving the issue and fast-tracking transformation. And, remember, we do not intend to turn the industry black. The agency has set a new vision for 2030 that will require inclusive participation by all stakeholders to succeed. SANRAL will continue to create opportunities for all to co-exist and get an equitable slice of the pie,” he said.
Building South Africa through better roads