SANRAL in the market for new CEO
The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has advertised for a new chief executive officer. The current CEO, Nazir Alli, reaches retirement age - 65 - in August this year.
"However, his last day in the office will be determined by the minister of transport, in consultation with SANRAL's board, subsequent to the appointment of the new CEO and a handover period," says Roshan Morar, SANRAL Board Chair.
Alli has been at the helm of the organisation since its inception in 1998.
He has been at the forefront of modernising South Africa's national road network to world-class standards for 17 years, and his impeccable track record speaks for itself.
Under his leadership, SANRAL has grown from managing a road network of 7 200km in 1998 to 21 403km currently, which is expected to grow to 35 000km in the future. The roads and other related infrastructure that have been built by SANRAL under his auspices are of outstanding quality, and have won numerous global awards in engineering excellence.
"Nazir Alli has run the agency in a prudent and ethical manner with unqualified audit reports for longer than a decade. His commitment to the country's socio-economic transformational agenda ensured that educational institutions grew the next generation of engineers through an extensive programme of scholarships, bursaries and internships, in order to reflect the demographic reality of the country."
Through Alli's active guidance, the roads agency launched and sponsored chairs at three universities, with the most recent a chair in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education at the University of the Free State. A second chair at the University of Cape Town in Transportation Planning and Engineering was established in 2013, with an endowment from SANRAL.
Through its sponsorship of the chair in Pavement Engineering at the University of Stellenbosch, SANRAL is making a substantial contribution to research that addresses the needs of the country's road industry and the training of the next generation of engineers.
"Although it is a challenge to replace someone of Nazir's stature, we would like him to enjoy spending time with his family after his selfless service to our country," says Morar.
The search for the new CEO has started. The ideal candidate should be a visionary leader who is also a qualified civil engineer. This person must have extensive experience at senior management level accompanied by a solid track record of leading a similar or similar-sized organisation. He or she must be a person of influence, who will be charged with developing a tactical plan to advance the company's mission, vision and objectives.
Morar says the board is confident that the right candidate will be found.
Note to editors
Nazir Alli has been the CEO of SANRAL since its inception in 1998. He is a chartered engineer (civil) with a focus on project management, change management, institutional transformation and public private partnerships. He did his undergraduate studies at the University of Plymouth and post-graduate studies at the Haas Business School: UC-Berkeley. He has 37 years in the civil engineering and project finance fields.
He is a fellow of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers, a member of the Institution of Civil Engineers (UK) and of the Institute of Directors and a fellow of the South African Academy of Engineers.
He has served as: * Chairman of the Governance Committee of the Engineering Council of South Africa; * President of the Association of Southern African National Roads Agencies (an SADC institution); and * Executive Member of the World Road Association and Council Member (current).
He has authored several papers and presented on various topics at international and local conferences and seminars. He has been instrumental in developing the concept of public-private partnerships in South Africa, which culminated in the acclaimed Maputo Development Corridor.
He has been recipient of the Centenary Award, 2000: Transportation Division of the South African Institution of Civil Engineers and the South African Road Federation President's Award, 2010.