The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) spent R4.1 billion on toll roads, while expenditure on non-toll roads came in at R23 billion in the 2023/24 financial year.

“The significant investments in both toll and non-toll roads underscore our dedication to enhancing South Africa’s road infrastructure, ensuring safer, more efficient mobility for all,” SANRAL CEO, Reginald Demana, said on Friday.

Looking at the financial performance, total assets stood at R772 billion, 17% up from the previous year, while both operating activities and investing activities increased by 23% and 7%, respectively.

Demana explained that many targets were not just achieved, but significantly exceeded.

“On an engineering level, we set out to resurface 1 200km of our network but had in fact achieved 1 984km. This is significantly up from 687.9km in the previous year and speaks to a robust commitment to maintenance and management of our assets,” Demana said.

While engineering is a core focus, SANRAL far exceeded its target for work on transformation, job creation, road safety and capacity creation.

Against a target of 75%, SANRAL achieved 99.6% on Routine Road Maintenance (RRM) work performed by Black-owned small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs).

The total target for the number of SMMEs participating in SANRAL projects was 1 800. SANRAL achieved 2 249, significantly up from 1 928 the previous year.

SANRAL had set out to create 12 000 full-time equivalent (FTE) jobs but had achieved 12 652, also up from 11 366 the previous year.

“Looking at the road ahead, SANRAL is on solid financial standing, with R87 billion allocated by National Treasury for the next three years.

“Borrowing capacity has increased to R16.5 billion, allowing for larger-scale project funding. The acceleration of spending on projects is resulting in reduced cash balances through faster project execution,” the agency said.

Demana attributed the achievement to steady operational and strategic growth.

“We are a growing organisation with an increasing network size that currently stands at 24 384 km, plus an additional 3 350 km of roads under assessment for transfer from provincial authorities.

“It has been a challenging year on many fronts, but we have risen to those challenges, guided by our unwavering commitment to infrastructure development that fosters economic growth and drives transformation.

“SANRAL’s role in creating opportunities, particularly for Black-owned enterprises, remains central to our mission. As we move forward, we will continue to ensure that our projects contribute meaningfully to job creation, community upliftment, and the economic empowerment of South Africans.”

“Our dedication to these developmental outcomes is steadfast, and we will use our investments to catalyse positive change for generations to come,” the CEO said.

Originally post on SAnews.gov.za