Note from the Editor
The third quarter of the calendar year or Q2 of the financial year is always a big report back time at the Roads Agency Limpopo. In the second month of the quarter, August, the Annual Report is published and the office of the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) gives its audit opinion on various organs of state, including RAL.
And for the last three financial years, since 2015/16, it has been a reassuring time at the Agency, particularly for the unflagging staff who has been putting in the hard work to turn this organisation around. RAL has been getting improved audit opinion year after year without regression. For the year under review, the Agency achieved unqualified audit opinion, the same as the previous financial year.
Like the Limpopo State of the Province Address and Department of Public Works, Roads and Infrastructure’s Budget Vote had been lead stories in the two previous editions respectively; RAL audit opinion and the events around it, such as the Board’s strategic planning session, naturally leads this edition. We also breakdown some of the technical terms and other confusing words used in the audit reports, with the assistance of ‘Auditing 101’ from an AGSA handbook no less, that the media, and opportunistic politicians and political parties use to mislead and rile our people.
The provincial government’s programme on service delivery for the year ahead and the budget allocation segue well into how RAL is creating partnerships with the private sector relevant to or benefiting from the Limpopo Provincial road infrastructure network to help augment its constrained budgetary and financial resources for delivery of a perennial service delivery concern, the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of Limpopo roads.
The two strategic partnerships featured in this edition best underpins what the CEO of RAL, Maselaganye Matji has been hammering on when he says every little amount counts in this Strategic Partnership Approach. Addressing one of the many stakeholder engagement and fundraising sessions on this drive, Mr Matji said: “We want everyone to be part of the solution to our country, our province and to our local municipality. We must work as a collective to change how the area where we live looks.”
And the confidence on how the Agency handles its finances and issues of governance has never been high.
Barloworld Equipment, a division of the Barloworld South Africa, signed a MoU for a non-financial contribution to boost emerging contractors in the Limpopo Province while a new player in the Sekhukhune mining district, Rakhoma Mining Resources, committed R6.5 million in a MoA to fund a road upgrade that will mutually benefit its mining operations and the community of Ga-Mogashoa.
And in our quest to keep on improving the content of your favourite newsletter, Mmileng, we have introduced yet another section under the ‘Inside RAL’ tag. This section aims to shed light on the inside workings of Roads Agency Limpopo, the processes and the culture of how our team of professionals works tirelessly to oil the machinery of this Agency in order to deliver on its mandate.
Contributions are by staff, across different units. We kick-off this section with a contribution from the Governance, Risk and Compliance Unit on how RAL ‘Risk Champions’ are empowered to ensure the delivery of various road projects is within the allocated budget and estimated time of completion.
Our vox pop feature, Mintirho ya Vulavula, is proving popular and community members in project areas are always eager to give us feedback of appreciation for the thankless job the Agency is doing of delivering road infrastructure equitably for the people of this province.
Other key highlights in this edition include a beautifully designed ‘RAL at Work’ road D1392 that transverses the villages of Ga-Malekane, Ga-Mampuru, Ga-Phasha, Tukakgomo and GaMahlakwena in the Sekhukhune District Municipality, as yet another thankful community takes delivery of a new road, and a Big Interview profile with RAL Company Secretary Tebogo Kekana - a senior woman in a pivotal role at the Agency and our featured personality, Kaizer Chiefs’ Ramahlwe Mphahlele, a leader on the pitch and an inspiration off it.
You are still encouraged to keep on sending ‘Letters to the Editor’ by addressing them to The Editor Mmileng, Private Bag X 9554, Polokwane, 7000 or email them to Mmileng Editor at manyathelabm@ral.co.za
Read on!