Price inflation cannot not be blamed on the cost of Gauteng’s e-tolls, a panel reviewing the system heard in Pretoria on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
“If there are problems in the pricing structure, it is not an e-toll problem,” transport department acting director general Mawethu Vilana said.<\/p>\n
Trucking and goods companies decided on prices and were in the wrong if they decided to impose exorbitant prices due to the tolls, he said.<\/p>\n
One of the arguments against the electronic tolling system had been that it would increase the prices of goods transported by road.<\/p>\n
Vilana argued that if a truck paid R1.50 per gantry the cost of a single item in the truck should not be increased by that amount. Instead the R1.50 should be spread across all the goods in the truck.<\/p>\n
“But it just can’t be an e-toll problem,” said Vilana, adding that goods pricing fell out of his department’s jurisdiction.<\/p>\n
Vilana was answering questions from the panel appointed by Gauteng premier David Makhura in July to review the tolling system.<\/p>\n
It was set up to examine the economic and social impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the e-tolling system set up to fund it.<\/p>\n
The panel was expected to present its findings to Makhura at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
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