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Government says e-tolling will definitely go ahead

26 Oct 2012

The highly contentious e-toll programme‚ which falls under the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project‚ will go ahead after the government has finalised tariffs.

Alex van Niekerk‚ Sanral's manager for the project‚ told BDlive it was unlikely that tolling would commence this year. He said it depended on the public consultation process and how long that would last.

"Today the Department of Transport gazetted the toll tariffs and regulations for public comment that will apply to users of the toll road network in Gauteng‚" Minister of Transport Ben Martins said in Pretoria on Friday, 26 October 2012.

What would follow was a 30 day period for public comment on the draft toll regulations published on Friday after which the government would consider the comments before gazetting final tariffs‚ Martins said.

Workshops will be held in the coming weeks with the public to clarify any outstanding issues for road users‚ George Mahlalela‚ DG of Transport said.

The plan to levy tolls on the expanded and upgraded sections of the Gauteng freeway network has been the subject of an inter-ministerial committee set up in May to consult with civil society ahead of the planned implementation.

Labour federation Cosatu has repeatedly threatened to bring the country to a standstill if the plan goes ahead.

The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) raised R20bn for the programme by selling bonds to investors.

Since the multiple delays in implementation of the tolling Sanral has been unable to raise capital on the bond markets for its projects because of the uncertainty over its income from tolling.

In February the National Treasury made a R5.75bn allocation to ease the cash flow constraints at Sanral‚ which needs to make payments to bondholders.

Martins encouraged road users to register for e-tags in order to qualify for discounts on the toll tariffs.

The suggested tariff schedule for e-tag holders for Class A1 vehicles (motorcycles) has been set at 24c/km while light vehicles‚ Class A2‚ is 30c/km and Class B (medium heavy vehicles) is 75c/km while Class C (heavy vehicles) will be charged at R1.50/km.

Martins said these fees were not "carved in stone" to allow for meaningful consultation during the public consultation process.

Source: I-Net Bridge

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