Sanral concedes procurement flaws in road maintenance tender

Source: Rodolfo Gaion via Pexels

On 20 July 2026, Judge Millar in the High Court set aside Sanral's award of the RRM tender following review applications by unsuccessful bidders BCB Solutions and Botle Ba Afrika.

The initial tender, issued in November 2024, sought to reduce the number of contractors managing Sanral's RRM works across South Africa from over 251 down to a panel of 20. Out of 401 bids received, 20 contractors were recommended.

To avoid an interdict while review applications were pending, Sanral extended existing contractors' agreements for six months to ensure road maintenance continued without disruption.

Investigation uncovers procurement flaws

Following internal investigations and external legal counsel, Sanral identified material irregularities in the appointment process, concluding that the tender could not be legally defended.

During court proceedings on 20 July, Sanral conceded the merits of the review, leading to the formal setting aside of the panel appointments.

The internal probe also resulted in the suspension of three Supply Chain Management (SCM) officials who declined to participate in an independent investigation regarding the non-implementation of a Board decision on contract extensions. The three officials are currently challenging their suspensions in the Labour Court.

Next steps and transition deadline

Following the court order, Sanral confirmed that all panel appointments under the set-aside tender have fallen away and no work may be allocated under the previous award.

Incumbent contractors will remain in place to maintain the national road network until a court-imposed deadline of 30 November 2026, by which time the new open tender process must be finalised.

Sanral noted that a separate tender for an engineering consultants panel was also recently reviewed and set aside by Judge Potterill in the High Court due to similar procurement shortcomings uncovered during internal reviews.