The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has reaffirmed its commitment to education with the announcement of a R30-million endowment to Stellenbosch University.
The endowment will continue to fund the Sanral chair in Pavement Engineering at the university, according to Kobus van der Walt, regional manager: Sanral Western region.
Established in 2001 with the financial support of Sanral, the academic programme of the chair is committed to the development of human capital and capacity building in the field of pavement engineering (the study of the performance of road “surface” materials and structural considerations for road paving).
The chair also contributes to research that addresses the needs of the country’s road industry and the training of the next generation of pavement engineers.
The Sanral chair offers specialised postgraduate courses to students and practitioners in the roads industry to keep them abreast of new trends and developments in the global environment.
Sanral has, to date, also offered scholarships to 192 school learners and bursaries to 108 students at eight of South Africa’s leading universities. It also provides internships to engineering students.
