He was speaking during the debate on the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill which will authorise the Cross Border Road Transport Agency to collect e-tolls on behalf of Sanral. The bill is necessary for e-tolling on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) as well as for future toll roads.
"The bill must be seen in the context of government's plans to fund its envisaged infrastructure programme. Sanral has issued bonds to fund the project of R20bn plus capitalised interest amounting to approximately R3.4bn that needs to be paid from the toll revenue," Martins said.
"Failure to collect tolls and repay the bonds would have very serious financial implications for Sanral and for the national government, which approved guarantees in respect of most of the Sanral roads," he added.
Martins said the inability to collect revenue would damage Sanral's credit reputation among investors‚ who may increase the price of bonds to cover this risk. "This in turn would have a negative impact on both Sanral and the government's credit ratings‚" he added.
He pointed out the current financial reality in SA meant there was a growing budget deficit‚ which‚ if allowed to increase would be detrimental to the economy and growth prospects of the country. It was therefore necessary to find alternative sources of funding.
Martins noted that only 3‚200km‚ or about 17% of the total national road network of 19‚000km was tolled.
"The National Treasury still makes funding available for the maintenance of roads in South Africa and tolling is used selectively to provide a high grade of infrastructure‚" he said.
Martins stressed that funding of the GFIP through a user charge had enabled the upgrading of about 201km of roads that would otherwise have taken more than 12 years to upgrade.
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