The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) will ask the courts for permission to extend some routine road maintenance (RRM) contracts on a month-to-month basis after confirming it will miss the November 30 deadline for replacing existing contracts.
Sanral had extended the contracts to keep maintenance work going while it issued and adjudicated open, route-by-route tenders.
The agency is pursuing 132 tenders for RRM contractors and 109 for consultants, on a staggered basis. The first consultant tenders were issued from August 14, followed by the first contractor tenders from September 11.
Sanral returned to route-by-route tenders after legal challenges to its procurement processes. In July, a court declared unlawful and unconstitutional the awards made under a tender to appoint a national panel of 20 contractors, following a self-review by the agency. The appointment of a panel of engineering consultants was also set aside earlier this year after losing bidders challenged it.
Acting CEO Lehlohonolo Memeza confirmed that Sanral would miss the November 30 deadline during a tense briefing to Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport. Memeza was appointed to the role while the agency seeks a permanent CEO, following Reginald Demana’s departure at the end of August.
Committee members raised concerns about Sanral’s performance, while acknowledging that Memeza was new to the position. They questioned the quality of information presented, citing discrepancies between figures in the briefing and information Sanral had previously provided, including in responses to parliamentary questions.
Lawmakers also sought more detail about consequence management at the agency and the timeline for an investigation into the appointment of Moriel Infrastructure Group.
Moriel executive chairperson Lawrence Mudzinganyama was recently filmed making threats against a woman at a Sandton restaurant. Transport Minister Barbara Creecy subsequently instructed Sanral to investigate the company’s appointment and performance.
Moriel said it had ended its association with Mudzinganyama. He was arrested and released on warning, and is scheduled to appear in court in October on intimidation charges.
Some committee members also asked about the nationality of a senior Sanral executive, amid false social media claims that most of the agency’s employees were foreign nationals.
