Sanral kick-starts multibillion rand road construction projects

The South African National Roads Agency Limited would resume procurement for road construction projects as 86 tenders were expected to be advertised, Sanral says.

On Wednesday, CEO Reginald Demana announced that the national roads agency was getting back to business after tenders worth billions of rand were stalled due to a legal impasse between Sanral and some construction companies. In October, Sanral’s board withdrew its new Preferential Procurement Policy to avert lengthy court battles.

High-priority tenders. Demana said that as part of the retender process, Sanral had reprioritised some of the less complex previously advertised tenders related to consulting engineer appointments and contractor appointments for asset preservation projects.

They would be subjected to a shortened retender period to enable their closing by the December 14, 2023, thus enabling Sanral to commence with tender evaluations during the December period in order to get projects back on track as fast as possible.

“We are making good on our promise to the road construction industry and the South African public that we would move as fast as possible to overcome the legal challenges to our Preferential Procurement Policy (PPP) and get the industry back on track,” said Demana.

Getting construction back on track. “The readvertisement of tenders, scheduled to start from today, is the first step toward getting the road construction industry back to normal after all Sanral tenders were cancelled following the Sanral board’s withdrawal of the Preferential Procurement Policy (PPP) which it had adopted in May 2023,” said Sanral.

Public participation process. Following the withdrawal of its PPP, Sanral said it had conducted countrywide public consultation sessions during which numerous verbal and written submissions were made to the roads agency to consider in the formulation of its interim PPP.

“After considering the inputs of interested and affected parties during the public consultation process, which ended last Tuesday, 21 November, the Sanral board yesterday adopted the interim policy (which is available on the roads agency’s website www.nra.co.za),” it said.

The Sanral board said it was satisfied that it had taken into account the necessary considerations for the adoption of the Interim PPP, with meaningful, targeted and deliberate consultations with interested and affected parties across the country.

“We have heard the cries for more aggressive transformation from black business and noted the objections and push-back from other fronts. We remain steadfast in our resolve to ramp up wealth-creation for black contractors, while at the same time being mindful of the importance of working with the big construction companies as we collectively develop South Africa’s economy,” said Demana.

Sanral said the advertising and adjudication of tenders would continue while Sanral would also be forging ahead in pursuit of a final Preferential Procurement Policy. “This will require further consultation with the industry and Sanral remains committed to giving effect to this process,” it said.

Public Procurement Bill. Sanral said it had taken note of the Public Procurement Bill deliberations unfolding before Parliament’s standing committee on finance. “The Treasury revisions and submissions on the bill, in particular the measures through which an organ of state can provide for preference, resonate with Sanral.

“These measures include setting aside specific contracts for preferred groups, applying a points system to provide for preference, using sub-contracting as a condition of tender, applying thresholds for local production and content, and making set-asides mandatory.

“Some of these elements were contained in our contested procurement policy. We hope the bill will soon be finalised and we will all have a clear understanding of the broader framework within which we must procure,” Demana said.