Sanral needs R120bn to fix congestion

A toll gate on the N1 North just before the Beyers Naude offramp in Gauteng. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

A toll gate on the N1 North just before the Beyers Naude offramp in Gauteng. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko

Published Oct 1, 2014

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Johannesburg - South African National Roads Agency needs 120 billion rand to alleviate traffic blockages, said chief executive Nazir Alli, amid a plan to review electronic-toll collections.

The funds are required to add more lanes and build new roads across the country’s metropolitan areas, Alli said in a column in a Johannesburg-based business newspaper.

The state entity, known as Sanral, needs another 20 billion rand for road maintenance that has fallen behind schedule, he said.

Gauteng province started charging electronic road tolls along freeways from December, rejecting criticism of the extra cost for road users in South Africa’s most populous province and commercial hub.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura said June 27 that a panel will be set up to review the charges.

Sanral has been allocated 11.9 billion rand this year from the country’s fuel levy, Alli said.

The poor, who travel long distances to get to work, would be impacted if the extra funding requested by Sanral only comes from the levy on fuel sales and is entirely assigned for road investments, he said.

In Gauteng province, almost 64 percent of commuters rely on minibus taxis that don’t get transport subsidies from the government, yet are exempt from electronic tolling, he said.

Raising the fuel levy may result in increasing pressure from the taxi industry for a transport subsidy, Alli said. - Bloomberg News

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