Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) executive Reginald Demana has been selected as the new CEO of the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), according to a Cabinet statement issued on Thursday.
Demana was previously CEO of coal mining group Wescoal (now Salungano).
Cabinet approved the appointment after a recommendation of the Sanral board to Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula. The appointment is subject to standard clearance and verification procedures, the Sanral board said in a statement.
Lehlohonolo Memeza has been the acting CEO of Sanral since late 2021.
Demana studied mining engineering at the University of the Witwatersrand and holds an MSc (with distinction) from Exeter University in the UK.
He is currently the divisional executive, mining, metals, infrastructure and energy of the IDC. Before that, he had been the CEO of Wescoal since February 2019. He stepped down in early 2021 to join the IDC.
During his career, he worked at the Department of Mineral Resources and Energy as a mine health and safety inspector, and at Anglo American Platinum as a trainee. He was also an analyst at BJM Securities and a mining advisor at Nedbank. During this time, he played a leading role in significant transformational transactions in the sector.
The Sanral board believes Demana's engineering and investment banking experience will stand the roads agency in good stead, given its participation in the bond market.
News24 reported earlier this year that Sanral spent less than half of its government grant over the past two years. Since 2019, it has underspent by R24 billion on non-toll national roads, for which it gets a government grant. The figure does not include underspending over the 2021/22 financial year.
Mbalula said earlier this year that he had been receiving calls from "tenderpreneurs" trying to get him to intervene in Sanral's board decision to cancel some tenders because internal controls were not followed.
The Sanral board believes Demana will contribute towards stabilising the roads agency's finances - particularly the toll portfolio - and that he will continue to implement the company's mandate to plan, build and maintain the national road network.