TENDERS WORTH R10.6BN FOR GIANT BRIDGE, ROADS SCRAPPED AFTER ‘IRREGULARITY’

JOHANNESBURG - The South African National Road Agency’s (Sanral) board decided not to ap prove the awarding of four tenders valued at R10.6 bil lion, over a “material irregularity.”

Another tender valued at R6.8 billion lapsed.

In a statement, Sanral noted the cancellations would delay the implementation of “crit ical” infrastructure projects but stressed that governance procedures were important to uphold.

“… It cannot be said that governance procedures must be thrown out of the win dow because we are all now rushing implementation,” the statement read.

The material irregularity in question relates to a reso lution made by the board in January 2020, which was not implemented in the evalua tion of the tenders.

“It is common knowledge that for a proper governance environment to exist, board decisions must be implement ed by management – unless, of course, the argument is about the legality of the board decision in question.

“Any alternative to that will result in the breakdown of governance and indeed in chaos, something which Sanral has hitherto avoided,” the statement read.

The board’s decision to cancel the tender awards was informed by an internal assur ance process and an external legal opinion.

“No prudent board would have allowed such awards to go ahead in the face of legal opinion and the conclusions reached by internal audit,” Sanral said.

Among the tenders that were not awarded include the Mtentu Bridge project, valued at around R3.4 billion, which forms part of the N2 Wild Coast Road Project - aimed at connecting four provinces;

Western Cape, Eastern Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga.

The bridge, once complet ed, is set to become one of the highest bridges in Africa and among the longest in the world once completed, Sanral previously said.

Other tenders include the Ashburton Interchange on the N3 (R1.8 billion), rehabil itation of the R56 Matatiele (R1.057 billion) and im provements to the EB Cloete Interchange (R4.302 billion).

The Open Road Tolling tender, valued at R6.8 billion, lapsed.

Earlier on Wednesday Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula tabled his depart ment’s budget vote in parlia ment. Transfers to Sanral ac count for about a third (33.5 percent) of the department’s budget over the medium term.

– FIN24.