The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) will revert to open tender processes for routine road maintenance and engineering consultancy services after court challenges found the use of contractor panels unlawful and unconstitutional.
SANRAL Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Reginald Demana announced the decision on Tuesday, following panel-related litigation matters involving the agency.
SANRAL has since resolved to open a new tender process without delay.
“The incumbent contractors remain in place until 30 November 2026, and SANRAL must ensure uninterrupted road maintenance during the transition; and all panel appointments have fallen away – no work may be allocated under the set-aside tender,” the CEO said on Tuesday.
Demana was addressing a media briefing in Centurion on SANRAL’s procurement issues, including allegations of corruption, litigation and the root causes of matters currently in the public domain.
In the coming days, SANRAL will issue tenders in batches.
“We have prepared the tender packs, and we are running a live proactive internal assurance process. In the Western Cape and Northern Cape Provinces, a limited number of tenders have already been issued, thus signalling our intention to move with speed.
“As some of you would have seen in the settlement court order for the RRM contractor panel, we are required to have completed the appointments of RRM contractors by the end of November 2026 and, should it be required, we will go back to court to request some extensions,” the CEO said.
Last month, two matters application against the SANRAL panel for Category 2 engineering consultants was declared unlawful due to irregularities in the tender adjudication process.
The tender was aimed at establishing a panel of engineering consultants for periodic and special maintenance and strengthening projects.
Demana said there are currently no existing service providers for this work and, therefore, no extensions are required.
Recently, the High Court of South Africa, Gauteng Division, Pretoria, declared SANRAL’s decision to award routine road maintenance contracts to a panel of 20 companies unconstitutional and unlawful.
Two construction firms, BCB Solutions (Pty) Ltd and Botle Ba Afrika Roads (Pty) Ltd, successfully challenged SANRAL’s decision to award RRM contracts to a panel of 20 companies.
“We have learned some important lessons as SANRAL from the two panel litigation matters. Internally, we needed more time to prepare for this change in the core business operating model and to align our management processes and systems accordingly.
“Externally, we needed to understand the socio-economic impact on our service providers, some of whom may have been established mainly to service SANRAL, and how they will be impacted by not being in the panels for a five-year term,” the CEO said.
Regarding routine road maintenance contracts, Demana explained that SANRAL had previously managed this work through approximately 251 contractors.
Following a recommendation by Supply Chain Management (SCM), SANRAL decided to reduce the number of contractors to 20 on the basis that a smaller panel would be quicker and more efficient to procure and far less complicated to manage.
This was considered the most attractive part of the value proposition for introducing tender panels.
During the tender process, approximately 401 tenders were received, and 20 successful bidders were recommended.
Demana said the agency would now proceed with open tender processes while working to meet the timelines set out in the court orders. -SAnews.gov.za
