Question NW2112 to the Minister of Transport
14 June 2023 - NW2112
Hunsinger, Mr CH to ask the Minister of Transport
What are the details of the concrete plans she has to deal with regarding the extensive road maintenance backlog, especially in relation to fixing the economically damaging potholes and generally bad road surface conditions in the Republic?
Reply:
As the honourable member may be aware, most of the South African road network has reached their twenty (20) years design life with the maintenance backlog estimated to be R197 billion. It is also important to note that insufficient budget for roads at both provincial and municipal levels continue to hinder the sector hence most of these roads are riddled with potholes.
Following Cabinet retreat of 31 May to 1 June 2022, whereby SANRAL was appointed as the implementing agent for the programme to support the Roads authorities with skills capacity and use of the maintenance technologies already available at SANRAL. All provinces developed and presented their respective plans on the six months rollout till end of 2022/23 financial year.
The programme “Operation Vala Zonke” rollout was then launched on 08 August 2022 in Gauteng with all other eight (8) provinces simultaneously launching their rollout programmes.
The rollout plan has both the short and long-term interventions that is presented to the National Treasury for funding support which includes amongst others.
- Substantial budget increase to Provincial Road Maintenance Grant (PRMG) to be ringfenced for national intervention to allow SANRAL direct intervention where authorities fail to discharge their mandates.
- Department issuing practice notes for provinces to sign MoA’s with municipalities for future collaboration and assistance of skills capacity to utilise the pothole reporting app.
- Support for provinces and municipalities in uploading the roads data in the SANRAL Integrated Transport Information System.
- SANRAL to remain central in coordinating all pothole fixing programme with both provinces and municipalities jointly working together.
The Department is in the process of establishing the “Operation Vala Zonke War Room” whereby all matters relating to pothole information will be centrally coordinated.
Following my meeting with His excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa in May 2023, I will be meeting with all the nine Premiers with effect from the 5th of June 2023 to address amongst others, challenges facing the province’s financial, technological and human resource capacity and also agree on how the rollout can be strengthened.