The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with rock crushing equipment supplier Pilot Crushtec to engender relationships with smaller contractors in the lower end of the construction industry.

The MoU will facilitate access to equipment, finance, training, development, aftersales service, maintenance, leasing and rental options for crushing and related equipment.

The continuous expansion and maintenance of the country’s roads generates billions in revenue and employs tens of thousands of individuals. However, the barriers to entry for newcomers are restrictive, owing to the high cost of capital equipment and lack of expertise within the field.

The MoU is posited to, among others, give small, micro and medium-sized enterprises access to expertise and machinery required to tender and execute major Sanral projects.

“We hope that, via our cooperation with Pilot Crushtec we are able to promote growth of black business and take constructive steps to support a sector that has immense potential for growth and job creation,” said Sanral CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma.

“Lack of access to sophisticated machinery and equipment is a major barrier for small contractors and prevents them from participation in large tenders. By working together with established companies, we can remove these barriers and enable black-owned companies and enterprises owned by women and the youth to participate on a level playing field.”

Meanwhile, Pilot Crushtec sales and marketing director Francois Marais indicated that the company was well poised to equip up-and-coming contractors and quarry owners with the opportunity to be educated by its team, which boasts over 30 years’ experience in the field, to fully capitalise on their operations.

As part of the MoU, Pilot Crushtec will through its affiliated training entities, educate contractors on how to use the equipment properly, thereby producing high quality road aggregates, which will, by extension, improve roads across the country.

Marais acclaimed that the MoU also presented an opportunity to promote the company’s locally produced products for road building and manufacturing such as top grade road stone and aggregates; with these being used locally and internationally.