The board of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has announced that four of the five tenders it cancelled in June have been awarded this week, following an evaluation process by the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA).

The R4.05-million Mtentu Bridge project, on the N2 Wild Coast road, was awarded to the CCCC Mecsa joint venture (JV); the R1.23-billion rehabilitation of the R56 Matatiele rehabilitation project, in the Eastern Cape, was awarded to Down Touch Investments; and the R2.44-billion N3 Ashburton Interchange, in KwaZulu-Natal, was awarded to the CSC Base Major JV, along with the N2/N3 EB Cloete interchange improvements project, in KwaZulu-Natal, valued at R5.02-billion.

In light of the recent announcement by Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana that e-tolls will be scrapped, a decision on the open road tolling tender (TCH Operator) has been put on hold pending clarity on key issues.

“We are . . . deeply grateful to the industry for their patience in resubmitting tenders for these contracts and waiting for the adjudication process to be concluded,” Sanral chairperson Themba Mhambi said.

When the contracts were cancelled, there was a concern by the executive on the impact that it would have on the country’s infrastructure development agenda, he said.

The Sanral board instructed management to readvertise and award the R17.47-billion in tenders the board cancelled earlier in May, citing “material irregularities” within four months.

“We . . . undertook to both President Cyril Ramaphosa and Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula that we would do everything possible to ensure we mitigate the impact on the construction industry and the economy. And that meant re-advertising, evaluating and awarding the tenders within four months after they were cancelled. We . . . learnt valuable lessons about how to handle tenders with speed to keep the country’s economic development on the boil,” Mhambi said.

Sanral said it would continue to prioritise infrastructure development in driving South Africa’s economic recovery. While this process had delayed the implementation of critical infrastructure upgrades, Sanral said that it was balanced against healthy governance and the need to ensure compliance with all relevant procurement and legal prescripts when tenders were awarded.