Johannesburg - Sanral has called for the additional phases of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project to go ahead to ease Joburg’s congested roads.
Sanral’s statement has come after nearly three weeks of presentations at the Gauteng e-toll panel, which have mainly been against e-tolling.
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) said benefits were being ignored during the current debate.
Spokesman Vusi Mona said some of the benefits were increased road safety, a decrease in congestion and travel times on the road that have resulted in the added benefit of cost saving for companies and individuals.
CONGESTION INCREASING
“We don’t want to be scaremongers, but the reality is traffic volumes are again building up and we are fast approaching unsustainable congestion levels, which will cost the Gauteng economy,” Mona said.
Sanral quoted a 2012 TomTom South African Traffic Index which showed that the upgrading of the inner-Gauteng highways had led to a considerable easing of congestion.
However, the latest index, released last year, shows that Joburg is again the most congested city in South Africa and the 20th most congested in the world.
“MISSING THE POINT”
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance chairman Wayne Duvenage said Sanral was missing the point.
“Sanral are confusing the building of roads with the paying of roads.”
He said nobody could argue that widening road lanes would ease congestion, but unless it was done with an integrated transport plan, the congestion would be back in five years, Duvenage added.
At the Gauteng hearings yesterday, the Road Freight Association (RFA) gave studies and figures showing that e-tolls were affecting the profits of freight companies, forcing many to close down or move out of Gauteng.
RFA spokesman Gavin Kelly said customers were refusing to pay e-tolls, and operators could not recover costs.
He said this meant that trucks were now forced to use secondary roads that were never designed to take the weight or volumes.
DRIVING BUSINESS OUT OF TOWN
Kelly said e-tolls had had a negative effect on the industry and on the Gauteng economy because businesses had decided that the cost of doing business in the province was becoming too expensive.
“Historically, 37.6 percent of all freight vehicles are registered in Gauteng. However, new registrations have dropped to 24.3 percent as operators start to move out of Gauteng to cheaper areas,” Kelly pointed out.
He added that the freight industry had shrunk over the last five quarters by 4000 vehicles, resulting in the loss of 9315 jobs.
Economist Mike Schussler said freight was an industry under stress.
“The average effect on the industry is quite high as the average operator is either going to be able to pass on costs to someone else or they will lose between 9.2 percent and 16.8 percent of their net profit,” he said.
WORKERS STRUGGLING TOO
Looking at ordinary workers, Schussler said a typical formal sector worker had less than R2300 discretionary spend a month after payments.
So the maximum e-tagged levy of R450 a month would be close to 20 percent of a person’s discretionary spend.
Taxi associations said they appreciated being exempt from e-tolls, but they were having problems with registering for exemption.
The South African National Taxi Council said taxis had benefited from e-tolling. Chairman Bafana Magagula said e-tolls had contributed to reducing taxi accidents.
“GFIP (Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project) has led to great improvements in movement and safety, particularly on the R21. The accident rate of taxis has dropped from 23 percent to 3 percent,” Magagula pointed out.
He said, however, it takes months to get an exemption certificate, leaving some owners exposed to extra costs.
The National Taxi Alliance in Gauteng said taxis were being forced onto badly maintained secondary roads.
The panel announced two dates for public meetings: today at the IEC Hall in Randfontein at 3pm and Monday at the Orlando Community Hall in Mooki Street, Soweto, at 5.30pm.
The Star