The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) says its board has approved Koos Smit's appointment as acting CEO, from 3 June.
Smit has a BSc in civil engineering and a Pr Eng. He will remain in the role while the board goes through the recruitment process.
Yesterday, Sanral said CEO Nazir Alli had resigned and would leave the agency on 3 June. Alli's resignation comes at highly contentious time for Sanral, as its Gauteng e-tolling system is being aggressively challenged and rejected by the public.
Sanral's board says it has taken note of speculation around the reason for Alli's resignation, and says he did not elaborate on factors that influenced his decision.
“While acknowledging the pressure on Sanral in recent times, the board did not believe it necessary in the circumstances to try to explore with him his personal deliberations and reflections.
“We can be certain, however, that this was Alli's own choice. He was not asked to resign. In fact, in the recent performance assessment of the CEO, the board assessed him as well above average in his performance,” the agency says.
Sanral adds: “We believe this decision of a chief executive with a long record of service and achievement should be respected rather than interrogated.”
Experienced
Smit, who is currently an engineering executive, is a long-standing member of Sanral's executive management team. “He is an engineer of great experience and is widely known in the industry for his contributions to the agency's successful development and maintenance of SA's national road network,” the agency says in a statement.
Sanral says its board is confident that Smit will ensure its operations continue. Sanral manages more than 16 000km of the national road network (with only around 3 000km in tolled roads).
The board will provide Smit with all the support necessary for him to undertake the role at this challenging time.
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