Dark days for motorists

The gantries are waiting to gobble up money that commuters can ill-afford. Picture: Ziphozonke Lushaba

The gantries are waiting to gobble up money that commuters can ill-afford. Picture: Ziphozonke Lushaba

Published May 14, 2011

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Gauteng motorists will find out what to expect from the proposed tariffs for the controversial e-tolling project after the municipal elections - but experts have warned not to be too hopeful.

“With the local government elections next week, whatever is in the report is very unlikely to be good news for the consumer,” Rob Handfield-Jones, a motoring expert, told the Saturday Star.

“Even if the fees are reduced to 50c/km, it still means almost the equivalent of doubling the price of fuel for somebody who drives from Pretoria to Joburg every day,” said Handfield-Jones.

“That’s a serious amount of money.”

The committee set up to review the tariff structure, initially pegged at 66c/km, before discounts, was expected to make an announcement about the e-toll project this week.

However, it still has to hold further meetings with stakeholders while its final report has to be presented to Gauteng Premier Nomvula Mokonyane and Transport Minister S’bu Ndebele.

Traffic engineer Tobie Ueckermann, of the SA Roads Federation, said the delay in finalising the review process was due to the high number of submissions.

“It was bound to delay despite the deadlines that were given.

“Elections will probably delay this even further, but we should expect to get more information regarding the tariffs soon after the elections,” he said.

“Realistically, it was not possible to conclude this in April because of the number of public holidays.”

Ueckermann said it was highly unlikely that the tariffs would be drastically reduced.

He said other proposals made to the review committee included a recommendation to make the toll fees VAT free or use a portion of the fuel levy for the upkeep of the freeways.

“At the end the public is going to get fed up with the increasing tax load and high costs.

“The more expensive the toll fees the fewer who will use the freeways. In a business sense this could affect the local economy,” he said.

Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said the reasons for the delay were unclear. “The good thing is that they are continuing with consultations, which we insisted on. We’re continuing to campaign on the issue ourselves.”

Cosatu is preparing for the worst.

Yesterday, the trade union federation issued a Section 77 notice at Nedlac over the toll system.

“We enter into a procedure where it means if there’s a failure to agree, then Cosatu can embark on strike action, demonstrations and pickets within the law.

“We feel that the impact of the tolls is going to have very negative consequences for workers in particular, many of whom have no alternative but to use their own transport to get work with inadequate public transport, and the long distances they live from work, plus the indirect effect on prices in shops and the increase in the price of transporting goods.”

The AA’s Gary Ronald said: “We were part of the first meeting and we are still waiting for an invitation for a secondary meeting that will reveal the inputs made.” - Saturday Star

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