E-tolls not a decision for transport minister: Outa
The decision about whether to keep e-tolls is no longer a decision for Transport Minister Dipuo Peters or Sanral CEO Nazir Alli to make.
This is according to Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairman, Wayne Duvenage, in an opinion article in the Sunday Times’ Business Times.
Peters has indicated on several occasions that the national government would not change its position on the controversial e-tolling system, despite the findings of the advisory panel, set up to assess the economic, social, and environmental impacts of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), and e-tolls.
“The decision about whether to keep e-tolls is no longer theirs to make: it is the people who travel on the roads who now hold the fate of the tolling regime in their hands.”
“It doesn’t help Alli or Peters to drone on about how ‘right’ e-tolling might be for Gauteng,” Duvenage said.
He called on the national government to allow Gauteng’s authorities and citizens to be involved in resolving their own congestion issues.
Gauteng premier David Makhura has insisted that he will act on the findings of the e-toll panel, while the ANC in Gauteng on Sunday resolved to oppose e-tolls in the province.
The outcomes of the hearings, currently ongoing, will be presented in a report to the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in November.
“With less than 38% of people complying — a figure that is already in decline — e-tolls for Gauteng have failed. The sooner the authorities acknowledge this and apologise for getting us into this expensive mess, the sooner we can move forward,” Duvenage said.
He said that Sanral’s bonds for the freeway upgrade require only R1.9 billion per annum to repay.
“This is an insignificant amount when you consider how much money the Treasury gets from Gauteng. It is also only a small portion of the R50 billion that economists estimate is squandered each year through maladministration, incompetence and corruption.”
By way of a solution, Duvenage said that the fuel levy is estimated to generate R710 billion over the next decade (using a conservative 6% inflation of the levy, and an estimated 1.5% annual growth in litres sold).
“Once you add the additional billions generated by existing tolled routes — income which Sanral conveniently leaves out of the equation — one has to ask why there should ever be a backlog in road infrastructure development?”
More on E-tolls
ANC officially against e-tolls in Gauteng
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