South Africa’s provincial road maintenance backlog has reached about R220 billion with high levels of grant spending failing to translate into equivalent delivery, according to the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA).
Provinces spent between 92% and 100% of their road maintenance grant allocations but achievement of maintenance and refurbishment targets lagged behind expenditure, AGSA Deputy Business Unit Leader Tintswalo Masia told Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Transport on October 6.
The briefing was part of the committee’s review of the transport portfolio’s 2025/26 audit outcomes.
Masia said more than R18 billion was spent on provincial road maintenance during the period reviewed. AGSA compared expenditure with the achievement of maintenance and refurbishment targets and assessed whether spending was translating into better road conditions.
In Gauteng, 97% of the grant allocation was spent but only 67% of the relevant targets were achieved. Just 25% of the province’s road network was rated good or very good with the remaining 75% classified as fair, poor or very poor.
“We don’t see the same achievement of targets. We also don’t see the same translation in terms of the condition of roads,” Masia said.
She highlighted substantial proportions of roads assessed as poor or very poor across provinces despite high spending levels.
Masia called for stronger monitoring and verification of funding transferred to provinces to ensure expenditure delivers improvements. She also linked pressure on the road network to the need to shift more goods and passengers to rail.
Committee members questioned the gap between spending and delivery and asked what measures could be taken to enforce grant conditions.
In its response, AGSA said withholding transfers is an available option but stopped short of recommending it. Any decision would need to follow a proper process supported by evidence.
The AGSA said the causes of underperformance need to be established in each province, including whether procurement weaknesses or inadequate monitoring and oversight are contributing to poor results.
