Through its Horizon 2030 and transformation strategy, the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) commits itself to support black owned businesses and ensure their development and meaningful participation in the construction industry, says SANRAL Board Member Thamsanqa Matosa.

He was speaking at the road agency’s flagship Taking SANRAL to the People programme in the Sedibeng District Municipality in Gauteng. The Taking SANRAL to the People programme is an opportunity for SANRAL to interact with its stakeholders – from government, traditional leaders, business, and community-based organisation – and forge partnerships with them as part of its efforts to improve their area’s socio-economic conditions through its programmes.

SANRAL’s stakeholder engagement coordinator Jullecsia Saul says that, by engaging on issues of mutual interest with stakeholders, SANRAL continues to share information about its continuing role in infrastructure development, job creation and skills development initiatives.

“The third and coming decade, will see SANRAL focusing on long-term visioning, a review of network growth, a review of its mandate, emphasis on relevance and concerted steps to deal with fair access to opportunities and correct the industry imbalances of the past.

We have embarked on a process of fundamental transformation that opens the path for inclusive, broad-based economic development. For that reason, we ensure that we are consistently transparent, as a state-owned entity, in the process of the upskilling of the local labour source, given that skilled development can reduce jobless, raise income and improve standards of living, she says.

This is all aligned with to SANRAL’s 14 Point Plan, adds Matosa, which is set out to facilitate better project-level liaison with local communities and structures. Establishing project liaison committees (PLCs) is an important function of the 14 Point Plan because these PLCs assist with, among others, setting up databases of local community members, and recruiting them to work on SANRAL projects.

The key priority project for Lesedi Local Municipality will be routine maintenance along national roads N3 and N17 which stretch across 4 main wards within the municipality. Sanral’s Northern Region Project Manager Oakley Van Eyk highlighted that there will be specific work packages allocated to local SMME’s. “There will be a total of four work packages made available for sub-contract along these RRM projects and will include: vegetation control which is made up of mowing and chemical control; general maintenance will be carried out like the construction of drainage systems and erecting of road signage to name a few” according to Van Eyk.