The SA National Roads Agency Limited said it would be seeking to enhance its revenue stream.
Newly appointed CEO, Skhumbuzo Macozoma, said SANRAL had embarked on a process to develop a long-term vision for the management of the national road network.
He emphasized that SANRAL wants to engage with South Africans on achieving a balanced funding portfolio with fuel tax-based revenue and toll income and undertook to reach out to provincial and municipal governments, the private sector and civil society.
“The agency will pursue fresh engagements with relative provincial and municipal governments to ensure that road infrastructure planning is integrated and that SANRAL programmes contribute to regional and local social and economic development.
“We will explore progressive strategies to pursue partnerships with the private sector and civil society to ensure successful national road infrastructure development over the medium to long term.
“This will bring certainty in terms of SANRAL’s borrowing plans and its capital project pipeline,” said Macozoma.
He warned that deferred investment in maintenance and new roads construction projects will result in exponential cost growth in the future – the maintenance backlog alone already stands at R197b.
Roads are a critical enabler of development and a prerequisite for the delivery of health, education and social services through the provision of access to these.
There is a dire need to improve existing road infrastructure while providing extra capacity. Already the highways around the country’s major cities are becoming severely congested, reducing mobility and threatening economic growth.
This has to be addressed as well as the need to connect other parts of the country with economic potential while ensuring mobility across and within rural areas.
“SANRAL looks forward to 2017 as it embarks on this new journey as a servant of South Africans, committed to delivering on relevant projects, improving people’s lives and contributing to economic growth through a balanced funding model, “ Macozoma said.
As the festive season gets into full swing, Macozoma wished all road users safe journeys and requested them to work with SANRAL and its partners in ensuring that all trips undertaken on national roads are safe.
(Statement supplied)
