Sanral's contribution to SA's economy reflected in annual report

* Custodian of country's most widely-used infrastructure.* Growing confidence in its ability to manage national and provincial roads.* More than R3.5 billion allocated to SMEs.* 13th successive clean audit report.

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) makes an invaluable contribution to the South African economy through its professional management of the national roads system - the country's most widely-used physical infrastructure.

"Without this network - and without Sanral - none of the country's economic growth objectives can be achieved," says the Chairperson of the Board, Roshan Morar. "Roads are a prerequisite for economic growth and the delivery of social services to citizens."

The annual report and audited financial statements for 2015/16 were tabled in Parliament yesterday.

Morar says confidence in the capacity and ability of Sanral is reflected in its growing mandate. An increasing number of provinces have requested Sanral to take responsibility for the management of regional roads, resulting in a total network length of 21 490km at the time of the report.

"We are proud of the fact that the engineering and safety interventions we introduce upon assuming responsibility for provincial roads lead to visible improvements within a couple of months," he says.

Sanral makes a concerted contribution towards road safety through the implementation of globally recognised measures including safer roads, safer vehicles, safer road users and improved post-crash response. This is also illustrated by improved response times to incidents on roads that are served by the Freeway Management System.

In Gauteng this has contributed to a 25% improvement in the time it takes to detect incidents and dispatch first responders. In KwaZulu-Natal detection time has been reduced to 2.25 minutes and in Cape Town Sanral coordinated responses to more than 20 000 incidents on the freeway network.

Morar says Sanral is proud of its contribution to the transformation of the South African economy, especially as it is reflected in the growth of the SME sector. "Our commitment to the empowerment of emerging contractors is demonstrated by the value of contracted allocated to this sector on construction and maintenance projects."

During the past year period Sanral awarded 210 contracts worth R14.8 billion for new works, rehabilitation and improvement as well as routine and special maintenance projects. Of this amount, R3.56 billion was earned by SMEs.

The Deputy Chief Financial Officer, Dumisani Maluleke, says Sanral continues to set high standards in the fields of corporate governance, accountability and financial probity.

Sanral has received a clean audit report from the Office of the Auditor General for the 13th year in succession.

"Ensuring best value for money and the confidence of the financial markets remain important objectives for the Board and management," he says.

Morar says the Gauteng Freeway Network comprises only 1% of the roads managed by Sanral but it is "a vital asset for individuals and businesses in the country's economic heartland".

Major announcements on the cost of e-tolling in Gauteng were made during the year to meet the needs of Gauteng road users, especially those in lower- and middle-income communities.

He says the quality of Sanral's engineering and technology is recognised by its peers, internationally and locally and reflected in the accolades awarded to the agency including global recognition for the Umgeni Road interchange in Durban.