House Chairperson, I hope that the Bloodhound Supersonic car doesn't get onto any of our roads, Deputy Minister. We have enough cowboys on the roads as it is.
Regarding the hon Lucas' question, I assume by regional roads he means provincial and subnational roads. Obviously they are not part of the national department's competence. But, of course, like all of South Africa, we are deeply concerned about the condition of many of our roads, particularly provincial and local roads. We are deeply concerned about the potholes in them. For this reason, although it is not our level of competence, we are working very closely with other spheres of government and other entities responsible for roads.
For this reason, on 24 and 25 May this year, we had a major Road Construction and Maintenance Summit, which was convened by the Department of Transport. Some of the things and resolutions that emerged from this conference were that, in terms of the maintenance of our national road network - the road network that is looked after by the SA National Road Agency Limited, Sanral - the condition of those roads is generally good to excellent, and there is no maintenance backlog in terms of funding.
But there is a very, very significant maintenance backlog when it comes to other roads. The national department, Sanral and other entities reckon it is about a R70 billion backlog. I've heard figures from our colleagues in the DA suggesting it might be even higher. The truth is that I do not think any of us are really sure. But what we do know is that there is a very significant backlog.
How do we practically begin to do something about this and not just talk about it? Firstly, there needs to be much more efficient spending. Lots of money that is allocated to other spheres of government notionally for road maintenance and road construction doesn't end up as tar. It ends up as all kinds of other things and gets diverted in other directions. So, we need to be much more efficient about this.
Then there is a tussle between expanding the road system and preserving what we have. Politicians - all of us - like to cut ribbons on new roads. Therefore, that is more often sexier than looking after the network we have. To get the correct balance we sometimes do need to build new roads, but we also need to look after what we have.
Apart from the national roads system, what is lacking in our country is a basic asset management of roads. What is happening? When one doesn't have a proper asset management system in place, one doesn't know what to prioritise. So, one submits to the pressures that one hears. For example, if there is a strong constituency in the bus or minibus sector, one is pressurised into doing something and does it.
This is also linked to doing the right things. Sometimes it's not the most intelligent thing to repair the most destroyed road. Sometimes it's better to begin to address maintenance issues on a road that is beginning to deteriorate because then one can, I think, get some 17 km compared to 1 km for the same amount of money that you spend looking after something that has become a dust road.
Critically, we have to begin to shift more freight loads off roads onto rail. That is why we are working very closely with the Minister of Public Enterprises and with our colleagues in Transnet to make sure that we really begin to shape up much more effectively in terms of Transnet Freight Rail. A lot of the damage being done to roads, which results in potholes, is caused by very heavy loads travelling on roads that were not designed for those levels of loads. [Interjections.] [Time expired.]