Publications
Partners
Pretoria - The National Roads Agency (Sanral) is to ask government to declare asphalt a strategic building material.
An ongoing shortage of asphalt has delayed road-building operations countrywide since before the World Cup soccer tournament. Asphalt is used in the final seal coat on practically all 154 000km of the country’s tarred roads.
According to Sanral’s Louw Kannemeyer the shortage has forced the postponement of the completion date of certain sections of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. After completion of the project the roads in question will be converted into toll roads. Delays in construction will result in toll fees being levied only from a later date, implying a loss of toll revenue for Sanral.
On the remainder of the road network, where toll fees are not levied, the delay means that scheduled payments will probably have to stand over into the next financial year. This could create an impression that Sanral has underspent on its capital budget.
Henk Langenhoven, a construction economist at the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, said contractors were at a loss – it was like having no cement.
In the current market jobs are scarce and road building comprises a significant part of the industry.
But contractors are unable to finalise contracts owing to circumstances beyond their control, which puts great pressure on cash flows.
Asphalt is delivered by four oil refineries in the country and is currently not imported at all, said Kannemeyer.
The Enref Refinery in Durban and the Chevron Refinery in Cape Town are currently not delivering any asphalt, apparently because of routine maintenance work that is taking longer than planned. It would appear that these two refineries will return to operation only at the end of February, after which the shortage should come to an end.
Kannemeyer said certain road maintenance could be done only in the warmer months – from August to April.
Sanral representatives, the Department of Energy, National Treasury, Safcec and the South African Petroleum Industry Association will meet on January 5 to discuss the issue.
An ongoing shortage of asphalt has delayed road-building operations countrywide since before the World Cup soccer tournament. Asphalt is used in the final seal coat on practically all 154 000km of the country’s tarred roads.
According to Sanral’s Louw Kannemeyer the shortage has forced the postponement of the completion date of certain sections of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. After completion of the project the roads in question will be converted into toll roads. Delays in construction will result in toll fees being levied only from a later date, implying a loss of toll revenue for Sanral.
On the remainder of the road network, where toll fees are not levied, the delay means that scheduled payments will probably have to stand over into the next financial year. This could create an impression that Sanral has underspent on its capital budget.
Henk Langenhoven, a construction economist at the South African Federation of Civil Engineering Contractors, said contractors were at a loss – it was like having no cement.
In the current market jobs are scarce and road building comprises a significant part of the industry.
But contractors are unable to finalise contracts owing to circumstances beyond their control, which puts great pressure on cash flows.
Asphalt is delivered by four oil refineries in the country and is currently not imported at all, said Kannemeyer.
The Enref Refinery in Durban and the Chevron Refinery in Cape Town are currently not delivering any asphalt, apparently because of routine maintenance work that is taking longer than planned. It would appear that these two refineries will return to operation only at the end of February, after which the shortage should come to an end.
Kannemeyer said certain road maintenance could be done only in the warmer months – from August to April.
Sanral representatives, the Department of Energy, National Treasury, Safcec and the South African Petroleum Industry Association will meet on January 5 to discuss the issue.
