The maintenance backlog on South African roads will continue to escalate unless alternative funding methods are found and tolling, at present, remains the best option available, according to Nazir Alli, CEO of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). Alli said the maintenance backlog had grown by R50 billion from 2010 and would continue to rise. “The backlog on the network is R197 billion. That is up from R149 billion in 2010. And it is increasing. It may just sound like a lot of zeros to the average person but it is a reality,” he said. And while the state-owned agency was being prevented from tolling roads in the Western Cape due to a legal process lodged by the City of Cape Town, one had to understand that there were no other funds available to upgrade and expand these particular roads, he added.
