The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), which has only spent half its budget to maintain and build non-toll roads for the past four consecutive years, spent millions last month on sending 29 officials to an international conference in Prague.
The trip to Prague cost Sanral R3.1 million. This directly conflicts with Treasury rules, which state that international travel should be kept to a minimum as part of cost-containment measures.
Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga also took a delegation from her department to Prague. The department did not answer questions on the size of her delegation or the cost of the trip.
Travel-cost containment regulations published in 2022/23 state that institutions must limit international travel to critical official business trips, and limit the delegation to travellers directly involved in the subject matter of the meeting or event.
In the last financial year, it spent just over half of its budget for non-toll roads, leaving R25.9 billion unspent. Sanral achieved only half of its road targets.
It has recently cancelled 80 tenders at an estimated value of R9.3 billion. This was after construction firms took Sanral to court to challenge unilaterally imposed preferential procurement regulations that would have put companies not 100% black-owned at a substantial price disadvantage.
Sanral retracted the policy last month and has cancelled all tenders that had been advertised under its terms. Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona said the agency would ‘endeavour to process these tenders and accelerate where possible, to conclude in line with the supply chain management prescripts’.
Should it fail to do so, the National Treasury could reclaim the money.
Sanral’s board chairperson, Themba Mhambi, earned R3.1 million in board fees over 2022/23 – double that of the Eskom and Transnet chairs.
[Photo: Sanral CEO Reginald Demana from Arrive Alive]