Sanral appoints Transformation Manager
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) announced today that it has appointed Ismail Essa as Sanral's Transformation Manager to report directly to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO). His appointment will take effect from 1 April 2017.
Announcing the appointment, Sanral CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma said: "The time to bolster government's economic transformation priorities is now.
"One of Mr Essa's immediate priorities will be to ensure sub-sector transformation across the supply value chain we deal with. This will include, among others, construction work, maintenance, property and operations, professional services and non-core services. Secondly, he has been tasked with ensuring that Sanral creates an enabling environment for small contractors, particularly black-owned ones, to access opportunities through procurement."
Macozoma explained that this is a new position which has been set up to fundamentally direct spending towards emerging black-owned enterprises.
Essa, a qualified civil engineer, is an industry heavyweight with 36 years' experience within the roads and civil engineering sector. Backed by 21 years' experience as a contractor with a major listed company in South Africa, Essa first joined Sanral in 2001 as a Senior Project Manager. Within two years, he was promoted to Regional Manager for the Northern Region (Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and North West provinces), a position he has held for the past 14 years.
Reacting to his appointment, Essa believes his past experience will be instrumental in this new role. He understands private sector operations and the need to create inclusive opportunities towards the transformation of the economy.
"The industry has been transforming slowly, our intent now is to give renewed impetus to the progress thus far made.
"Sanral service providers need to reflect the demographics of the country. It is now my job to reduce dominance by big contractors as this is a major barrier for small and new contractors and consultants in accessing opportunities offered by Sanral," explained Essa.
"The transformation is not limited to contractors and consultants, no doubt the largest group of service providers, but all our suppliers will be affected by our transformation policies. At an appropriate time we will have a stakeholder engagement in the form of a conference with all our suppliers."
Essa holds a B Tech degree in Civil Engineering and a Master of Business Administration. He is a long-standing member of the South African Institution of Civil Engineering. He also holds a professional registration with the South African Council for Project and Construction Management Professions.
Sanral's Design and Construction Manager in the Northern Region, Willem van der Merwe, will be Acting Regional Manager for the Northern Region until the position of Regional Manager has been filled.