The Routine Road Maintenance (RRM) and toll operations of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) have been declared an essential service, by national government.

Confirmation of this declaration was received late on Thursday, 26th March and SANRAL has subsequently informed employees and service providers to enable these services to be executed during the lockdown period.

SANRAL CEO, Skhumbuzo Macozoma, said: “RRM activities are important to ensure good safety performance of national roads, while toll operations are equally important to ensure seamless mobility and effective traffic and incident management throughout the toll road network of South Africa.”

In response to the call by President Cyril Ramaphosa for all South Africans to assist in halting the spread of COVID-19, SANRAL has imposed stringent measures at its toll plazas and has reduced the number of toll collectors.

SANRAL is following the guidelines issued by the Department of Health to ensure the health of its employees as well as essential road users.

Motorists who are deemed essential staff and are travelling on the national roads are encouraged to avoid using cash and utilise the dedicated credit card and e-tag lanes where possible.

Measures are also in place for a skeleton crew to operate the Freeway Management System (FMS) in order to monitor the road network for rapid & effective incident responses.

All SANRAL construction projects are suspended and locked down with security personnel in place to protect materials and assets, whilst continuing to operate traffic accommodation facilities.