The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will work with the eThekwini Municipality and provincial Transport Department to fix roads in dire need of repair in the city.
Sanral’s Eastern Region design and construction manager Ravi Ronny said that they would work with the City and the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Transport to refurbish the roads.
While a list of roads that would be repaired is yet to be finalised, Ronny said the focus would be on roads that were affected by floods in April last year.
“Sanral will also maintain some of the local and provincial road networks as alternative routes to the N2/N3 freeway upgrading programme as part of the Traffic Management Plan,” he said.
He pointed out that while Sanral is responsible for national roads, from time to time municipalities request assistance from the agency, as an implementing agency, to take over some of their roads.
However, in the case of eThekwini, a request had been made by the national government. “The request to Sanral to help with repairing roads damaged during the floods in 2022 came from the national government,” Ronny said.
He added that as part of the agency’s Community Development Strategy,
Sanral may consider safety-related improvements to adjacent roads, directly impacting the national road network in certain locations.
Ronny said they had not determined the duration of the repair work as this would vary depending on the scope of work required to repair or upgrade the road infrastructure.
DA councillor Thabani Mthethwa said councillors had been fielding questions from unsatisfied community members on the state of roads in some areas.
He expressed hope that the working arrangement with Sanral would herald a new era in which the City works with other government spheres.
“This is a move that we certainly welcome because communities are demanding to be serviced,” said Mthethwa.
EFF councillor Themba Mvubu welcomed the involvement of Sanral, noting how the agency had experience in carrying out massive projects.
He expressed concerns that it had been over a year since the floods, and many of the roads had still not been fixed, adding that there was a need to move with speed in ensuring road reconstruction.
He vowed to continue pushing officials and staff to work speedily so that the roads are repaired in the affected areas of eThekwini.
“We honestly do not have time and because this is my portfolio I just want to see eThekwini becoming a construction site, and if that means there are sections that must be invoked in order to fast-track the process, then that is what we want,” said Mvubu.
According to IFP councillor Mdu Nkosi, while the move to work with Sanral is welcomed, the terms of reference needed to be clear.
EThekwini Municipality head of communications Lindiwe Khuzwayo said the process to determine the roads that would be reconstructed was being finalised, and the scope of work would be confirmed at a later stage.