The S’hamba Sonke (meaning “walking together”) programme was launched by the Department of Transport in 2011 to address the backlog in road repairs. The programme, through the Provincial Roads Maintenance Grant, consists of three budget components. The largest enables provinces to expand their maintenance activities. The other components allow provinces to repair roads damaged by floods and cover the cost of rehabilitation work created by coal haulage activities in Mpumalanga and Gauteng.
A new formula to allocate funds is being applied to all provinces. It is based on extent; condition; topography; road traffic and weather conditions. These factors reflect the different costs of maintaining road networks in each province.
The grant has an allocation of R27,6 billion over the MTEF, of which R9,8 billion was allocated in 2015/16.
The DoT, through the Rural Roads Asset Management Systems grant, supports local government in improving the planning and budgeting of rural roads infrastructure. The grant funds the collection of accurate data on the condition and usage of rural roads in line with the Road Infrastructure Strategic Framework.
Source: South Africa Yearbook 2015/2016
