Sanral CEO Nazir Alli's withdrawal of his resignation has been met with disappointment and regret.
The Department of Transport (DOT) yesterday said that, following a meeting between transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele, director-general George Mahlalela, the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) board and Alli, the CEO was requested to withdraw his resignation in the interest of continuity at Sanral, particularly on issues related to the implementation of e-tolling.
Alli's resignation was accepted by the board earlier this month.
Dictator reinstated
“It's pretty regular. Again it shows government meddling at the highest order. The board of Sanral is supposed to be independent,” says Democratic Alliance Gauteng transport spokesperson Neil Campbell.
National chairperson of the Justice Project SA, Howard Dembovsky, adds that this withdrawal request is “completely typical of the way government has run this thing from day one. These ambush tactics are aiming to cause as much confusion as possible”.
“The announcement that Alli is staying took everyone by surprise. Sibusiso Ndebele has once again gone above the heads of the board of Sanral and done his own thing.”
Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) spokesperson Patrick Craven says the federation sees no benefit in Alli's reinstatement.
“We regret the reappointment. We feel that Alli personified what was wrong with the e-toll project. Of course he is not personally responsible, but the high-handed way in which he bullied people into buying e-tags and registering is a big part of what caused the public opposition and outrage.”
Institutional memory
Ndebele said government is not looking for a scapegoat and so there is no matter with Alli. "It was his [Alli's] way of saying that if he was the problem he's removing himself. We had to explain to him that he's not the problem."
Ndebele said the DOT and the Sanral board are working on a comprehensive programme to re-focus the mandate of the agency.
“We want to broaden Sanral's mandate and reposition it in such a manner that it is able to provide much-needed support to provinces wherein capacity remains a challenge. We cannot have as a country a good national road network while provincial and municipal roads remain in a sorry state.
“We believe that the Sanral CEO has the necessary institutional memory to help us with the repositioning of Sanral.”
Ndebele requested Mahlalela and the board to review the mandate and responsibilities of the Sanral CEO, a process that will subsequently inform the drafting of a new contract of employment.
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