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South Africans should respect the judiciary as a critical pillar of democracy, Nazir Alli, CEO of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL), urges in the group’s annual report, released on 30 September.

“We must respect the courts and a call to disregard the judgements of the courts bodes ill for our collective future,” says Alli, alluding to “the recurrent unfounded attacks on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) and the continued inflammatory statements by the detractors of the project that led to the threats of physical harm to workers that traumatised innocent people.”

Pointing out that the Supreme Court of Appeal, along with the high courts of North Gauteng and Western Cape, had ruled in favour of SANRAL, Alli maintains that these judgements vindicate SANRAL’s use of the “user-pay” principle and confirmed that it had acted lawfully at all times.

He characterises as “regrettable” the actions of those who are delaying the implementation of the Wild Coast and Winelands projects in the Eastern and Western Cape.

“It is unfortunate that those delaying the Wild Coast project do not see the link with the job losses in the mining sector and the deepening poverty in the areas which the road is intended to traverse.”

SANRAL’s mandate is to finance, improve, manage and maintain the national road network in a manner that protects and preserves the environment through context-sensitive solutions.

Alli has no doubt that South Africa needs well-maintained roads that promote the economy, social cohesion and a prosperous society. In this context, several huge capital projects are in prospect for 2014/15.

He says that over the past 16 years the roads under SANRAL’s jurisdiction have grown from some 7 200 km to 21 403 km of proclaimed national roads, the majority of which (85%) are funded from tax-based revenues.

Looking ahead to the challenges of a growing demand for better roads, constrained financial resources and a growing backlog, Alli stresses that the public purse cannot be relied on – hence the need for the “user-pay” principle for the rest (15%) of the proclaimed national roads.

“It is an equitable way to ensure the supply of economic infrastructure. On the one hand, charges directly reflect usage of the tolled roads in a way that taxation or a fuel levy cannot. On the other, we can use technology to target those users, such as public transport and emergency services, which should be exempt from the payment of tolls.”

Alli says that persistent levels of inequality have forced SANRAL to rethink its role in sustainable development.

“The agency strives to create opportunities that realise the potential of communities and enable them to become economically independent. By actively involving entrepreneurs and communities in the construction of road infrastructure, they become equal partners in the project because they have a stake in its success.

“Through our targeted programme and procurement policies in support of SMMEs and broad-based black economic empowerment, SANRAL has provided a platform to restore some measure of economic balance.”

Alli highlights SANRAL’s high performance structure, which produces work of a high standard. In addition to SANRAL’s core values of excellence, pro-activeness, participativeness, integrity and care, “we will emphasise the behavioural dimensions of leadership, teamwork and cooperative governance”.

An independent international review indicated that SANRAL was an international leader in terms of asset management in the roads sector.

Issued by SANRAL