The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has appointed Skhumbuzo Macozoma as CEO, to succeed Nazir Alli, who has been in the position since 1998.
Alli, who is retiring, has been asked by the Sanral board to extend his retirement numerous times while it was seeking a suitable candidate to take over.
Macozoma took up the role of CEO as from October 1.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) welcomed the appointment, noting that the role required the pursuit of serious change to address the dire financial and credibility issues that had unfolded over the past decade.
It added that Sanral was facing a possible credit rating downgrade and a failed e-toll scheme. Further, Outa highlighted that Macozoma now faced a myriad of challenges including the Western Cape freeway toll project, the N2 Wild Coast toll road debacle, more questions about Sanral’s excessive road construction costs and a looming battle on the N3 De Beers Pass route.
“We trust that Macozoma will do his best to turn Sanral into the learning organisation that it ought to be, by engaging more meaningfully with the public, local communities and their critics on all pertinent matters and projects it takes up in the future,” it added.