September 2006
National and Gauteng departments of transport, Gauteng municipalities and Sanral:
A joint proposal for a Gauteng Freeway Improvement Scheme (GFIP) estimates that initial construction costs for 359km of freeway would be R6.3 billion, excluding VAT, with new freeway construction costs at R60 million/km and the widening of existing roads at R20m/km, both excluding VAT. “The final scheme (after the 30-year analysis period) has a total construction investment of up to R25bn (2006 rand, excl VAT) and will potentially include an additional 121km (55km initially and 66km further on in the analysis period) of freeways.” Costs for e-tag users were estimated at 30-35c/km in 2006.
January 11, 2008
Statement by then minister of public enterprises, Alec Erwin:
“The cabinet approved the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Scheme at a cost of R23bn.”
February 20, 2008
National Budget documents:
“The estimated cost of the first phase of the project, to be completed by 2012, is R14.3bn. The SA National Roads Agency (Ltd) has received approval from government to raise funds for this scheme in the capital markets.”
February 17, 2010
National Budget documents:
In a list of major infrastructure projects, the GFIP Phase 1 “total project cost” is listed as R22.0bn.
March 1, 2010
Statement of the infrastructure development cluster, issued by GCIS:
A sum of R70bn was being spent over three years on road infrastructure. “The project includes the R23bn Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.”
September 2010
Sanral annual report 2010:
“The Gauteng project is introducing… a multi-lane free-flow toll-collection system know as open-road tolling. ORT allows for tolls to be charged without vehicles having to stop or slow down. There are no toll booths; instead, overhead gantries will be fitted with equipment that will recognise the electronic ‘e-tag’ in a vehicle, with fees deducted from road-user accounts. The contract value for implementation is R1.16bn, and was awarded during the reporting period.”
November 27, 2010
Sanral CEO Nazir Alli, in a letter to The Star:“The R15bn for Sanral’s Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project comes from funds raised from capital and money markets. This is money Sanral borrows and will have to pay back, and it will come from revenue generated by tolls… In 2007, the estimated toll tariff was identified as 50c/km.”
February 22, 2011
Joint statement by the national Department of Transport and Gauteng government:
“Government reiterates its commitment to fully honouring the terms of the loan agreement for this transaction. We will also be engaging with investors to keep them in the loop and assure them that we remain fully committed to the repayment of the R20bn loan.”
March 2011
Minister of Transport S’bu Ndebele, in reply to a DA parliamentary question about the “total costs” of the GFIP:
“The total cost for the road construction: R16.9bn, including CPA (contract price adjustment), excluding VAT. Other costs related to the toll infrastructure (R725m) and toll system (R1.16bn) amount to R1.89bn (excluding VAT). The costs related to the implementation of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) (R350m) and current maintenance (R90m) amount to a further R440m (excluding VAT). The total estimated cost amounts to R19.23bn (excluding VAT). These costs reflect the physical implementation costs, inclusive of ongoing maintenance and operations costs until toll collection will commence. The above do not include financing costs.”
Ndebele said Sanral had not taken on any debt for the GFIP or received any grants, so the toll roads were funded by bonds. “The total toll portfolio debt is R27.7bn as at December 31, 2010,” the majority of this for the GFIP. The debt would be recovered in 2028.
Ndebele said that at a 66c/km tariff, the monthly toll revenue was estimated at R300m a month, with unrecoverable debt of 5 percent of possible revenue.
September 27, 2011
The Star:
The Star is shown documents which give the cost of operating the toll collection system as R12.5bn up to 2020, a cost previously not reported.
February 22, 2012
National Budget documents:
On GFIP’s phase 1 of 185km, the Budget said: “Debt-financed investments for these upgrades totalled R20bn.”
March 26, 2012
Government Gazette:
A new law appropriated the extra R5.75bn for Sanral, as a special transfer from the 2011/12 financial year, and stated this is for Sanral “to pay for debt incurred for the completion of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project”. Sanral has spent it on operational expenses instead, which is technically illegal.
April 18, 2012
Treasury court papers in Pretoria High Court e-toll dispute:
“The total debt incurred by Sanral to fund GFIP in the first phase is R20bn.”
May 3, 2012
Cabinet statement:
The cabinet referred to “the R20bn investment in the GFIP which started in 2007” while confirming the extra R5.75bn in direct government funding for the project.
May 21, 2012
Sanral CEO Nazir Alli:
In an affidavit to the Constitutional Court, Alli gives the total GFIP cost over the 24 years of the loan as R89.722bn, calculated in rand with a September 2011 value.
The Star