South Africa sets out plan for multiple road projects

The Treasury has allocated about R21.5bn per year for the maintenance and improvement of Sanral’s 19,262km non-toll network.  

Tenders to the value of R8.3bn for construction work on the N3 between Durban and Pietermaritzburg will go out to tender during the current financial year and major road construction tenders with a combined value of more than R40bn will be issued to the construction sector over the next two to three years.

“We expect a surge in road construction projects over the medium-term framework as part of the broader national efforts to invest in economic infrastructure,” said Louw Kannemeyer, the roads agency’s engineering executive. “We are confident that this investment will help to boost the construction sector which has been under severe pressure in recent years, and also cascade down to black-owned and emerging enterprises, who will receive much larger shares of tenders in future.”

The money will go towards a total of 940 projects, of which 325 are already under construction.

Kannemeyer said the new projects will include some 90 major capital works projects larger than R500m each, which will go out to tender during the three-year medium-term period.

Seven major tenders on the N3 will be issued within the next three months once the regulatory approvals have been received and land acquisition finalised.

Starting in August, Sanral will issue smaller tenders related to routine road maintenance and periodic maintenance across its entire network and in all nine provinces. 

The more than 50 tenders will be released in a controlled manner so as not to flood the market.

“The projects will provide economic and social infrastructure that has the potential to unlock economic growth, stimulate local economies and create jobs within the communities located close to the construction activities,” said Kannemeyer.

In its long-term strategy, Horizon 2030, Sanral committed itself to the transformation of the construction and engineering sectors through the allocation of tenders to new entrants in these sectors.

Over the past six months SANRAL has brokered memorandums of understanding between emerging companies and major suppliers of construction equipment and machinery. 

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