Transport minister Fikile Mbalula says that his department is being impeded from rolling out new road infrastructure projects because of a lack of resolution around Gauteng’s e-tolls.<\/p>\n
In a media briefing on Thursday (1 October), the minister said that president Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet is set to finalise a new funding model for the project after receiving proposals from his department.<\/p>\n
Mbalula admitted that he thought the issue would have been resolved by now, but that the process has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n
“Now that we are easing the lockdown to level 1 we are prepared to expedite the roll-out of infrastructure projects and to also resolve the issue of the e-tolls,” he said.<\/p>\n
In September, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) said that the government needs to urgently decide<\/a><\/strong> on the future of electronic tolls in Gauteng province, as the coronavirus cuts its cashflow.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re having to scurry around to ensure our liquidity,\u201d Sanral chief executive officer Skhumbuzo Macozoma told the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n Macozoma said the decision on whether to keep the system or scrap it rests with President Cyril Ramaphosa\u2019s cabinet. Only about 20% of users are paying e-tolls, the Sunday Times reported.<\/p>\n If cancelled, Sanral\u2019s debt related to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project will jump from around R40 billion to R67 billion. South Africa\u2019s lockdown to curb coronavirus cost Sanral more than R620 million.<\/p>\n OCTOBER TRANSPORT MONTH LAUNCH<\/p>\n Minister @MbalulaFikile<\/a> is here to Monitor and accelerate service delivery, and intervening where challenges persist.<\/p>\n Launch is happening in KwaZulu Natal. #OTM2020<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/LXxu1yIZkW<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Department of Transport (@Dotransport) October 1, 2020<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n