South Africa’s Roads Agency CEO resigns

The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) has confirmed that its Chief Executive Officer, Reginald Demana, has tendered his resignation.

Demana ascended to the role in January 2023 and will end his tenure at the end of next month to take up a new opportunity that aligns with his long-term career ambitions.

According to SANRAL, the outgoing CEO joined the National Roads Agency with a mandate to accelerate development of key national road corridor infrastructure projects and stabilise SANRAL’s toll portfolio.

During his time as CEO, Demana played a leading role in fulfilling this mandate, overseeing several key projects in recent years.

SANRAL highlighted some of the achievements during his tenure, including:

• SANRAL made significant progress on strategic infrastructure projects, including the R573 Moloto Road, N2 Wild Coast Road, N2-N3 KwaZulu-Natal upgrades, N2 Corridor in Mpumalanga and N1 South Corridor. These projects traverse both toll and non-toll road portfolios.
• The resolution of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) e-toll issue, which resulted in a significant improvement in SANRAL’s balance sheet, largely due to the government’s decision to absorb all the GFIP/e-toll related debt.
• Approval of an increased borrowing limit of R16.5 billion for SANRAL up to 31 March 2028, including a R7 billion government-guaranteed New Development Bank facility. This was key to unlocking funding capacity for toll portfolio capital investment and previously constrained capital projects.

The road agency’s board confirmed that it will initiate the recruitment process as it looks for a new CEO.

In the interim, it will announce the appointment of an Acting CEO.

“A further announcement will be released once the Board has appointed an Acting CEO, which will be no later than 17 July 2026, to support a smooth handover and transition between Demana and the Acting CEO,” the SANRAL Board declared.

“The Board thanks Demana for his service and contribution to SANRAL and wishes him well in his future endeavours.”