Following a discussion regarding initiatives to improve road safety, an alarming announcement by the minister of transport was made regarding the current state of the South African road network.
On the 24th of February, Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula announced a road construction indaba that 80% of the national road network is past its 20-year design life. According to the Mbalula, 184 816km(40%) of the paved and gravel provincial road network is now at the end of its design life. “It is going to be the biggest disaster you have ever seen, with roads not being fixed and maintained, because we do not have the money to do it.”
According to the transport minister, this is a result of a maintenance backlog within the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) as well as “misused maintenance funds.” Mbalula added, “Among the many challenges we seek to tackle, we remain burdened with the intractable challenge of the road maintenance backlog.”
According to Mbalula, in order to stop the continued deterioration of the South African road network, a total of R75 billion is needed. Mbalula elaborated by saying, “The provincial road network condition has been on a steady decline since the early 1990s due to several reasons that include a curtailed funding allocation and the shrinking project output by the road sector.”
In the 2022 budget speech, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that SANRAL would receive an additional R9,9 billion to maintain the non-toll road network. Schedule 5 of the South African constitution highlights the responsibilities of the provincial government and municipalities. The role of the municipal governments in regards to the maintenance of municipal roads was stressed by Mbalula. Regardless, the transport minister made it clear that the government was still responsible for ensuring that roads are managed correctly. “I am sitting here with roads that are not going to be maintained for the next 10 years.”
Due to the importance of the road network in the country and the economic sphere, the quality of roads within the country should be a great concern to the government. Mbalula warned that the continued neglect of the road infrastructure would directly affect all motorists.
Keyword: 80% of South Africa’s National road network past its 20-year design life