Finance minister Enoch Godongwana says the government cannot increase the cost of fuel levies to replace the failed e-toll scheme as it will place too much additional pressure on consumers.<\/p>\n
In a post-budget briefing to parliament on Thursday (24 February), Godongwana said the National Treasury’s latest calculations show that an additional 74 cents would need to be added<\/strong> to the current fuel price to pay for the scheme.<\/p>\n He noted that 40% of South Africa’s fuel prices are already made up of administered prices, with the government looking at regulatory changes to address this.<\/p>\n Godongwana added that a petrol price hike to fund e-tolls was a ‘blunt instrument’ that would ultimately be carried by already cash-strapped consumers.<\/p>\n Instead, the finance minister said the government was weighing other options to address e-tolls debt. While a final decision is yet to be made, Godongwana said it was his ‘considered opinion’ that the user-pays principle would be retained in some form.<\/p>\n Paying for the e-toll system through a hike in the fuel levy was one of the alternatives proposed by e-toll critics before the system went live almost a decade ago.<\/p>\n Long-time opponents of the system, Outa, said that a 10 cents per litre increase in the fuel levy in 2007 \u2013 when e-tolling was first approved as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme \u2013\u00a0would have seen all capital debt for the system paid off by 2015<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n The government has for 10 years rejected fuel levy hikes as a way to pay off e-tolls as \u201cunsustainable\u201d. However, the\u00a0national treasury has increased the tax by R1.70 since e-tolls come into effect<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0in December 2013.<\/p>\n Over the same period, widespread rejection of the e-toll system by motorists, and the\u00a0failure of the government to timeously address the issue<\/a><\/strong>, has led to South Africa accruing billions of rands in debt, necessitating\u00a0bailouts for Sanral<\/a><\/strong>, and leading to the deterioration of the country\u2019s entire road network due to lack of funding.<\/p>\n Godongwana confirmed that a decision on e-tolls would be communicated in ‘due course’.<\/p>\n
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