Pretoria - The board of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) announced on Wednesday that Koos Smit has been appointed as acting Chief Executive.
Smit will fill the role as acting CEO once Nazir Alli leaves his post on 3 June and will remain in the position while the Board undertakes the recruitment process, Tembakazi Mnyaka, chairperson of SANRAL's board said.
The board announced Alli's resignation on Tuesday.
"Mr Smit, who is currently Engineering Executive, is a long-standing member of SANRAL's executive management team. He is an engineer of great experience and is widely known in the industry for his contributions to the agency's successful development and maintenance of South Africa's national road network," Mnyaka said.
The board said it had had every confidence that Smit would ensure that the daily operations of SANRAL continued at the high level the agency was known for and that it would provide him with the necessary support.
The board also noted the speculation around the reason for Alli's resignation
"In his letter of resignation, Mr Alli did not elaborate on factors that influenced his decision. While acknowledging the pressure on SANRAL in recent times, the board did not believe it necessary in the circumstances to try to explore with him his personal deliberations and reflections. We can be certain, however, that this was Mr Alli's own choice," Mnyaka said.
She added that Alli was not asked to resign and that in a recent performance assessment of the CEO, the board assessed him as well above average in his performance.
"It is widely acknowledged that SANRAL's record of delivery under Mr Alli has made it one of the best-performing state owned enterprises for a number of years...We believe this decision of a chief executive with a long record of service and achievement should be respected rather than interrogated," she said.
