Black contractors in East London and Mthatha have commended the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) on its new Contractor Development Programme (CDP), designed to develop and grow grade 5 to 9 CE contractors.
According to a statement by SANRAL, the agency presented its new Contractor Development Programme to contractors and other stakeholders at consultative sessions held on 28 and 29 October in East London and Mthatha, respectively.
Lehlohonolo Memeza, SANRAL’s Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, said:
SANRAL is implementing the three- to five-year CDP to increase the capacity, equity ownership, sustainability, and quality of work produced by grade 5 to 9 CE contractors registered with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), as well as to improve their performance.
“We want to make sure that when you leave the programme, you are able to bid for other work within and outside of SANRAL and that your quality of work is of a superior standard,” added Memeza.
Memeza said the CDP sessions in the Eastern Cape had been very engaging, demonstrating the eagerness of contractors and black industrialists to participate in the programme and showing that they were invested in its success.
“SANRAL will create a unique platform for CIDB grades 5 to 7 to maximize participation in its projects. SANRAL will provide skills development, training, mentorship, and financial support to address the challenge of ‘the missing middle’ CIDB grades,” the statement read.
Siphiwo Mxhosa, SANRAL’s Acting General Manager for Transformation and Stakeholder Relations, said: “We should not speak of transformation in theory. SANRAL is implementing various multi-billion rand projects in the Eastern Cape, including the upgrading of the N2 from KwaBhaca to eMaxesibeni valued at R1.2bn, the R56 from Matatiele to the KwaZulu-Natal border valued at R1.2bn, and the Msikaba and Mtentu mega bridges on the R23bn N2 Wild Coast Road project. These are massive projects which present huge opportunities for all contractors.”
Mxhosa said SANRAL wanted to ensure that companies owned by previously marginalized groups “become the main beneficiaries of our intensive road infrastructure build programme.”
According to the statement, the participating contractors graduate from the CDP after completing developmental goals. These include:
• Successful completion of an NQF 5 or similar learnership;
• Upgrading of CIDB grade at least one level above from when they entered the programme;
• Having the required capital available from their current CIDB grading;
• The company is sufficiently staffed with experienced and competent individuals to graduate out of the programme.
“SANRAL was urged to ensure that black-owned consulting companies were not left behind in the process and was requested to review its requirements to enable participation by more black-owned accredited training service providers,” the statement added.
Industry stakeholders such as the CEO of the Amathole Economic Development Agency, Avuyile Xabadiya, said SANRAL’s CDP would assist in fast-tracking local economic development goals in the region and that the agency would lend the necessary support to the CDP.
Memeza said SANRAL would publish an expression of interest for interested contractors to make submissions, with the aim of appointing selected contractors to participate in the CDP by April 2025.
The closing date for comments and written submissions on SANRAL’s Contractor Development Programme is November 7. All written submissions can be sent to cdpbis@sanral.co.za.
