The importance of timeous maintenance of road infrastructure cannot be overemphasised, writes Koos Smit.
A common theme has emerged from the round of “State of the Province” speeches delivered by the nine premiers in their respective legislatures. Taking their cues from President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address and the subsequent National Budget statement, each of the individual provinces emphasises the need for investment in infrastructure that can support the future growth of their regional economies.
There were the obvious and expected differences in emphasis – reflecting the varied characteristics of the provincial economies. Gauteng Premier David Makhura expanded on his vision of corridor development in Africa’s most industrialised regional economy – and how this should be linked and integrated through a modern transport infrastructure network.
In Limpopo, Premier Stanley Mathabatha spoke at length about rural development and how the upgrading of more than 400 kilometres of roads from gravel to tar and the rehabilitation of a further 175km had improved the economic and social circumstances of people living on the periphery of primary development nodes.
Major plans
Premier Helen Zille noted the surge of investments in real estate in the Western Cape and the requirement of infrastructure provision to keep pace with the needs of developers. And in KwaZulu-Natal, Premier Senzo Mchunu spoke with great passion about major plans to expand capacity at the Dube Trade Port, the Richards Bay Industrial Development Zone and King Shaka Airport.
The underlying message from national and provincial leaders was that – despite the economic downturn – we should not neglect critical investments in strategic infrastructure that will buttress the period of growth coming down the line. The experience with electricity constraints in the past and the current concerns about the state of municipal water infrastructure add weight to this argument.
The biggest economy in the world has realised this, and perhaps too late. The American Society of Civil Engineers gives the nation’s infrastructure a D+ on its report card. Its report from 2013 depicts a woeful tale of deferred maintenance. More than 70 000 bridges are in need of repair. The country needs around $1.7 trillion (about R25.6trln) for what it calls surface transportation alone, that is roads.
The value of an effective and modern primary road network is often taken for granted and leaders tend to emphasise their spending on social infrastructure and services that bring immediate and visible benefits to communities – new housing that demonstrates delivery, computers for schools, emergency equipment for hospitals and interventions that speed up the payment of social grants to pensioners.
Yet, the reality is that none of these projects can be delivered without the presence of an adequate and sustainable primary road network. Agro-processing in Limpopo and Mpumalanga will not be profitable if the final products cannot be transported to the consumer markets. The mining industry in the North West is entirely dependent on the quality of the freeway network to move its minerals to the harbours for export.
The wondrous potential for tourism growth in the Western Cape is already under strain because of short-sighted decisions that have hampered the capacity of the provincial road network to handle the concurrent increase in vehicle traffic.
The better news is that a growing number of provinces are recognising the value of utilising the proven capacity and world-class expertise of SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to manage their provincial road networks. The statistics released in Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan’s Budget statement show how the length of the network managed by Sanral has grown – and will continue to expand.
International standards
The importance of timeous maintenance of road infrastructure cannot be overemphasised. The figures speak for themselves. On the national road network, which has been managed by Sanral since its establishment in 1998, it costs about R75 000 per kilometre per year to maintain the road according to international standards.
These costs more than double on roads that were recently handed over to Sanral from the provinces. Through the years backlogs accumulated in critical maintenance areas, such as pothole repairs, the cleaning of draining structures, crack sealing, grass cutting and fence repairs. This can cost up to R210 000 per kilometre – and take up to 18 months – before a road is restored to an acceptable condition.
Sanral has the experience, the capacity and the technical know-how to manage the bulk of the national and provincial road network in the country. Maintenance contracts allocated by Sanral lead to downstream benefits for local economies through job creation, the empowerment of small- and medium-sized enterprises and the fast-tracking of companies owned by women, youth and the disabled.
Contrary to the perceptions created by single-issue lobby groups that represent the views of a dwindling minority, toll roads make up a mere 15 percent of Sanral’s road portfolio. And although this 15 percent comprises high volume roads that are essential to be maintained for sustainable economic growth, the bulk of its value is reflected in its ability to manage and maintain a safe and reliable road network across the country that enables each of the nine provinces to deliver on the visions they have to improve the quality of the lives of their residents.
* Koos Smit is the engineering services executive at the SA National Roads Agency Limited.
** The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of Independent Media.
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