SANRAL

Last updated
The South African National Roads Agency Limited
Company type Government-owned public company
Industry Road transport
Predecessor South African Roads Board
Founded Pretoria, South Africa (19 May 1998 (1998-05-19))
Headquarters,
Area served
South Africa
Key people
Roshan Morar (Chairman)
Skhumbuzo Macozoma (CEO)
ServicesRoad management, maintenance and development
Revenue R3,634,570,000 (2009) [1] :105
R1,928,563,000 (2009) [1] :105
R1,012,853,000 (2009) [1] :105
Total assets R30,603,724,000 (2009) [1] :104
Total equity R-798,943,000 (2009) [1] :104
Owner Government of South Africa
Number of employees
397
Parent Department of Transport
Website www.sanral.co.za

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Ltd or SANRAL is a South African parastatal responsible for the management, maintenance and development of South Africa's proclaimed National Road network which includes many (but not all) National ("N") and some Provincial and Regional ("R") route segments. [2]

Contents

History

SANRAL was created by The South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act, 1998 as a corporatized successor to the South African Roads Board, which was part of the Department of Transport. [3] It was registered as a public limited company on 19 May 1998. [4]

In 2011, SANRAL became the target of popular resentment as tolling was about to commence on many of SANRAL's freeways in Gauteng, in order to finance their soon to be completed expansions, as part of the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project . The GFIP was instituted to deal with the severe traffic congestion in Gauteng's freeways . The applicable Gauteng freeways were declared as e-toll highways and they began open road tolling on 3 December 2013. [5] E-tolls were discontinued on 12 April 2024. [6] [7]

Governance

SANRAL's only shareholder is the state, represented by the Minister of Transport. [8] The agency is governed by an eight-member Board of Directors. Five voting members the chairperson and four others are appointed by the Minister of Transport for a term of three years. Two government officials are non-voting members, one from the Department of Transport and nominated by the Minister of Transport, and the other from the National Treasury and nominated by the Minister of Finance. The chief executive officer, who is appointed by the Minister of Transport on the recommendation of the Board, is ex officio a non-voting member of the Board. [9]

Operations

As of 2009 SANRAL had 178 employees. [1] :65 They are divided between the head office and four regional offices: Northern Region (Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga); Western Region (Western Cape and Northern Cape); Eastern Region (Free State and KwaZulu-Natal); and Southern Region (Eastern Cape). [10] In 2009 the agency managed a total of 16,170 kilometres of roads, [1] :14 and by 2014, more than 22,000 kilometers. [11]

SANRAL's operations are divided into two broad categories, namely toll roads, which are self-funding, and non-toll roads, which are funded by transfers from the Department of Transport. In 2014 toll roads constituted 14% (c. 3,000 km) of its responsibilities, and non-toll roads 86% (c. 19,000 km). [11]

Some toll roads are concessions, privately funded and managed with supervision from SANRAL; these include the Platinum Highway (N1/N4), the Maputo Corridor (N4) and the N3 Toll Concession. Other toll roads are owned and operated directly by SANRAL; these include the Huguenot Tunnel (N1), the Tsitsikamma Toll Road (N2), the N2 tolls on the KwaZulu-Natal coast, the N1 tolls in the Free State, Gauteng and Limpopo and the N17 tolls in Gauteng and Mpumalanga. It also owns and operates toll roads which are not National Routes (but are Provincial Routes), with an example being the Brandfort Toll Plaza on the R30 section of the R30/R730/R34 ZR Mahabane Highway north of Bloemfontein. It also owns and operates the two tollgates on the M4 freeway in Gauteng.

Contributions to Palaeontology and modern science

In the mid-1980s, a road bypass was constructed around Grahamstown (now Makhanda), to prevent traffic between Port Elizabeth and East London from driving through the townships following Apartheid uprisings (which were progressively getting more heated at the time), making it unsafe for motorists. [12] In 1999 the newly constituted SANRAL tendered for upgrades of an unstable road cutting along this route. This road cutting contained an important 360 million year old fossil site previously researched by Robert W. Gess. In 1999 SANRAL teamed up with Gess to assist with salvage blocks of a black shale from the cutting to prevent their loss to science. This and further salvage of shale blocks during further work on the cutting by SANRAL contractees in 2007-2008, and their subsequent ongoing excavation, led to the revelation of the now world renowned Waterloo Farm lagerstätte, the only estuarine fossil site in the world from about 360 million years ago, with exceptional soft-tissue preservation. A few of the note-worthy fossils from Waterloo Farm include those of the first four-legged creatures (tetrapods) from Africa - Tutusius umlambo and Umzantsia amazana, as well as many other vertebrates such as Placodermi (eg. Bothriolepis africana; Groenlandaspis riniensi), Acanthodii (eg. Diplacanthus acus), Chondrichthyes (eg. Antarctilamna ultima), Actinopterygii and Sarcopterigii (eg. Serenichthys kowiensis ). Agnatha included the worlds oldest fossil lamprey (Priscomyzon riniensis), the recently described juvenile which overturned our assumptions about vertebrates ancestry. The site has also revealed invertebrate remains including the scorpion Gondwanascorpio emzantsiensis , the oldest land animal from Gondwana, and a diverse flora of plants including Archaeopteris notosaria , Africa's earliest woody tree. In addition to numerus undescribed taxa and those currently being described (Housed at the Devonian Ecosystems Lab, Albany Museum, Makhanda), Gess and his team still has decade's worth of work ahead from the excavated blocks that were rescued from the road works with the help of SANRAL.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N3 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N3 is a national route in South Africa that connects Johannesburg and Durban, respectively South Africa's largest and third-largest cities. Johannesburg is the financial and commercial heartland of South Africa, while Durban is South Africa's key port and one of the busiest ports in the Southern Hemisphere and is also a holiday destination. Durban is the port through which Johannesburg imports and exports most of its goods. As a result, the N3 is a very busy highway and has a high volume of traffic.

The N21 is a proposed national route in the City of Cape Town, South Africa. It is also known as the Peninsula Expressway ring road. Once complete, it will link the northern suburbs on the Atlantic seaboard with the southern suburbs on False Bay (Muizenberg). The R300 freeway is entirely part of the proposed route.

The Pretoria Ring Road, also known as the Pretoria Bypass, is a collection of two bypasses that together form a partial ring road around the city of Pretoria, South Africa. It consists of a section of the N1 highway as well as a section of the N4 highway. It is entirely in the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National routes (South Africa)</span> National Roads in South Africa

National routes in South Africa are a class of trunk roads and freeways which connect major cities. They form the highest category in the South African route numbering scheme, and are designated with route numbers beginning with "N", from N1 to N18. Most segments of the national route network are officially proclaimed National Roads that are maintained by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), but some segments are maintained by provincial or local road authorities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N1 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N1 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Cape Town through Bloemfontein, Johannesburg, Pretoria and Polokwane to Beit Bridge on the border with Zimbabwe. It forms the first section of the famed Cape to Cairo Road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R21 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

The R21 is a major north–south provincial route in eastern Gauteng Province, South Africa. Built in the early 1970s, it remains one of two freeways linking Pretoria with Johannesburg, via the R24. As the eastern of the two freeways, it links the Pretoria city centre with OR Tambo International Airport and Boksburg. Between the Solomon Mahlangu Drive on-ramp in Monument Park, Pretoria, and the N12 interchange in Boksburg, the R21 is an 8 lane highway and motorway (freeway), with 4 lanes in each direction. It has off-ramps leading to Irene, Olifantsfontein, Benoni, and Kempton Park. The route intersects the N1 highway near Centurion, the R24 near the airport, the N12 and N17 in Boksburg, and the N3 near Vosloorus on the East Rand, where it ends. The section from the N12 to the N3 is not a freeway. The R21 is also designated as the P157.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R24 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

The R24 is a major East-West provincial route in the Gauteng and North West provinces that links OR Tambo International Airport with Rustenburg via Johannesburg, Krugersdorp and Magaliesburg. The process of renaming the streets and freeway that form the route from Krugersdorp eastward to OR Tambo International after anti-apartheid stalwart Albertina Sisulu was completed in 2013.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R30 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

The R30 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Bloemfontein with Rustenburg via Brandfort, Welkom, Bothaville, Klerksdorp and Ventersdorp. The southern part of the route is tolled, as the R30 forms the first section of the ZR Mahabane Toll Route, with the Brandfort Toll Plaza found 10 kilometres north of its southern terminus junction with the N1 national route. The tolled portion ends at the junction with the R730.

Regional routes are the third category of road in the South African route numbering scheme. They are designated with the letter "R" followed by a three-digit number. They serve as feeders connecting smaller towns to the national and provincial routes. Designation as a regional road does not necessarily imply any particular size of road; they range from gravel roads to multi-lane freeways.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R34 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

The R34 is a long provincial route in South Africa that connects Vryburg with Richards Bay via Kroonstad and Newcastle. It passes through three provinces, North West, the Free State and KwaZulu-Natal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">R300 (South Africa)</span> Road in South Africa

.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N12 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N12 is a national route in South Africa which runs from George through Beaufort West, Kimberley, Klerksdorp and Johannesburg to eMalahleni.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N4 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N4 is a national route in South Africa that runs from Skilpadshek on the Botswana border, past Rustenburg, Pretoria, eMalahleni and Mbombela, to Komatipoort on the Mozambique border. The entire route is a toll road.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N14 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N14 is a national route in South Africa which runs from Springbok in the Northern Cape to Pretoria in Gauteng. It passes through Upington, Kuruman, Vryburg, Krugersdorp and Centurion. The section between Pretoria and Krugersdorp is maintained by the Gauteng Provincial government and is also designated the P158.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">N17 (South Africa)</span> National road in South Africa

The N17 is a national route in South Africa which runs from Johannesburg to Oshoek (Ngwenya) on the border with Eswatini. It passes through Springs, Bethal and Ermelo.

The R101 is a Regional Route in South Africa that is the designation for some of the old sections of roads that were previously the N1, prior to upgrading. It only has 2 sections, from Bellville to Worcester and from Johannesburg to Polokwane.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Schoeman Freeway</span> Road in South Africa

The Ben Schoeman Freeway or Ben Schoeman Highway is the main freeway between Johannesburg and Pretoria, and consists of portions of the M1, N1, and N14. Opened in 1968, it is named after former Minister of Transport Ben Schoeman, and is undoubtedly the busiest road in South Africa.

The R512 is a Regional Route in South Africa that connects Brits, North West with Randburg, Gauteng via the western side of Hartbeespoort. It is an alternative route to the R511 for travel between the Johannesburg Metropole and Brits.

e-toll (South Africa) Electronic toll collection by SANRAL, South Africa, since 2013

e-toll consisted of the electronic toll collection (ETC) processes employed by South Africa's roads agency SANRAL on selected toll roads or toll lanes in the Gauteng province, subject to the Sanral Act of 1998. SANRAL derives its income both from toll income and the national fiscus, while initial capital outlay for large projects are funded by open market bond issues. In total SANRAL manages 13,000 km of non-toll roads in South Africa, besides the majority of its toll roads, including 187 km of Gauteng's freeways which were subject to e-toll.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Waterloo Farm lagerstätte</span> Site in South Africa with a wide range of fossils from high-latitudinal Gondwana

The Waterloo Farm lagerstätte is a Famennian lagerstätte in South Africa that constitutes the only known record of a near-polar Devonian coastal ecosystem.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 "Annual Report .09" (PDF). South African National Roads Agency Limited. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  2. "SANRAL". Archived from the original on 2018-09-15. Retrieved 2018-09-15.
  3. The South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act, 1998 Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine (Act No. 7 of 1998), s. 61 (2).
  4. "Enterprise details for The South African National Roads Agency". Companies and Intellectual Property Registration Office. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  5. "E-tolls going live in Gauteng". fin24.com. November 20, 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  6. South African Government ends e-tolls in Gauteng press release published 28th of March 2024, retrieved and archived 5th of April 2024
  7. Njilo, Nonkululeko (2024-04-10). "Gauteng set to finally end e-tolls, overdue fees remain". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-04-12.
  8. The South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Act, 1998 Archived 2012-02-29 at the Wayback Machine (Act No. 7 of 1998), s. 3.
  9. Transport Agencies General Laws Amendment Act, 2007 Archived 2010-08-11 at the Wayback Machine (Act No. 42 of 2007), ss. 1417.
  10. "Contact Us". South African National Roads Agency Limited. Retrieved 3 January 2010.
  11. 1 2 "Parly warns motorists that e-tolls are still due". The Citizen. 8 July 2014. Retrieved 18 January 2015.
  12. Gess, Rorbert W (2002). "The Palaeoecology of a coastal Lagoon of the Witpoort Formation (Upper Devonian, Famennian) in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa". Fort Hare University, South Africa. 1: 1–14.