e-tolls are Outa here… or not… - 5 Jun 2012

By Rod Baker, content director

The Treasury has now - not before time - clarified its estimates of the costs of e-tolling and now they are well below those used by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) in its April court application, which relied strongly on the argument that the cost of e-toll collections amounted R20bn.

In a bid to soften the blow for regular users, the government had set a cap of R550 a month per user and is quoted as saying: "Our information is that less than 5% of users are reaching that cap. Toll fees for most people are about R250 a month or below."

They really do not get it, do they?

Every motorist and every trucking company already pays, via the fuel levy in the fuel price, for new roads and road maintenance - and they do not want to pay R550 to use the road, nor R250... in fact, not even a cent extra.

It's fitting that in time for World Environment Week, the GBCSA has launched its Green Lease Toolkit, which they co-developed with the South African Property Owners' Association (SAPOA). The kit was officially launched at the SAPOA International Convention & Property Exhibition in Durban.

So you think you own that mobile? Wrong! If Simon Campbell-Young is correct, you won't own your mobile in future - it will own you.

Finally, and this will make car dealers happy... our motoring editor Henrie Geyser reports that new car sales accelerated to an eight-month high in May, and he also gets "buzzy" on the new BMW ActiveHybrid 5, which he reckons floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.