The Department of Transport has declared 1 535.7 km of roads in Limpopo as national roads, with these roads to be under the management of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

Sanral CEO Vusi Mona said the incorporation of these roads served as a testament that Sanral had been doing outstanding work on the 19 704 km of roads it currently maintained, which comprised 84% nontoll roads, 15% toll and 1% Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme, or e-toll, roads. 

He further pointed out that during 2012/13, the agency had spent more than R3.2-billion directly on toll roads and almost R9.5-billion on its nontoll network.

“As a State-owned entity, our mandate has always been the management, maintenance and development of South Africa's national road network,” Mona said.

Meanwhile, Sanral explained that, while the term “national road” was often used to refer to a national route, technically any road maintained by Sanral was a “national road”. The road, therefore, did not have to form part of a national route.