JOHANNESBURG – An article that appeared in the Sunday Independent on Sunday 15 June has highlighted the monumentally irrational line of thinking being adopted with respect to e-tolling. Despite Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi publicly acknowledging “We are taking a second look at the matter”, he went further to say “There will be no review of phase one of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. Those are fantastic highways which have done wonders in easing traffic congestion but for phase two we will look at our options.”
How Mr Vadi can now say that “There is still dissatisfaction with the funding model. We are taking a second look at the matter” and “there are also discussions about a provincial fuel levy or a provincial tax” when these options were categorically rejected “because the fuel levy cannot be ring-fenced” according to Treasury during the so-called “consultations” held by SANRAL and Government in 2012 and prior to that is completely beyond us.
“They are now acknowledging that they not only lied to the public then, but that they took no heed of any of the alternative funding models that were put to them in those so-called ‘consultations’,” said Howard Dembovsky – Chairman of Justice Project South Africa.
“No-one is denying that the roads on the GFIP are ‘fantastic highways’ but we must bear in mind that the vehicle population of the entire country as at 31 December 1970 was 2 121 227 (motorised and trailers). As at 31 December 2013, Gauteng alone had 3 087 711 vehicles while South Africa’s vehicle population had grown by almost 9 million (8 851 574) to 10 972 801. What kind of fool would have believed that no upgrades would be necessary over the 43 years since the William Nicol on/off-ramp was constructed?” he continued.
If e-tolling is to be scrapped as a means of financing road upgrades in other phases of the “Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project” and elsewhere, then why are SANRAL and government being so pig-headed about retaining it for phase 1? The outstanding, uncollected debt with respect to e-tolls was R493 million as at 28 February 2014 (R543 million less the R50 million collected) and since then, no update on this figure has been forthcoming. This is probably because that figure is easily double by now, but the excuse SANRAL is using is that they are undergoing an annual audit.
This article is also the clearest indication that e-tolling will most likely NOT be rolled out to the rest of South Africa, let alone Gauteng, but will be left in place in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and Tshwane where residents have become used to having National Policy and legislation being thrust only on parts of Gauteng. Another such example is the AARTO Act, which despite turning 16 years old in September this year has not been rolled out beyond the jurisdictions of the JMPD and TMPD.
Remaining dogmatic about e-tolling on the GFIP while claiming that “the Gauteng government has heeded the dissatisfaction of motorists” is a complete contradiction and can only be termed as constituting utter hogwash. If the Gauteng and National Government gave two hoots about how motorists felt, they would not continue to attempt to plunge Gauteng into a recession by making it ridiculously expensive to get around.
There is no shame in admitting that one has made a mistake and taking steps to put that mistake right, but there is huge shame in seeking to criminalise the motorists of three of South Africa’s cities who simply cannot afford to have e-tolls added to their already high financial burden. This is exactly what SANRAL, the Gauteng and National Government intends doing in the very near future and their prolific roadblocks with e-tolls trucks at them right now, acting as a “precursor to enforcement/prosecution” bears glaring testimony to this.
Howard Dembovsky
National Chairman – Justice Project South Africa (NPC)