E-tolling plans could go down new road

THE government has proposed new laws after the dismal failure of e-tolling revenue collection from Gauteng motorists who owe more than R6 billion in unpaid tolls.

The purpose of the South African National Roads Agency Limited and National Roads Amendment Bill is to amend previous road acts to address the public outcry which arose as a result of the implementation of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

When e-tolls were introduced in 2013 as part of the Gauteng Freeway Improve- ment Project, motorists accused Sanral of not conducting proper consultation.

To ensure this does not happen in other provinces, Sanral is amending the bill that governs e-tolling.

The proposed amendments to the bill will give provincial and municipal governments more power in the implementation of e-tolls.

The proposed bill states that “the manner in which the public consultation process was conducted on this project was not to the satisfaction of the public; there is a need to strengthen consultation…”

The amendments proposed now give more power to premiers and municipal governments about the roads that will be tolled.

The premier will be given at least 30 days to hear out objections about a road that has been flagged for tolling. If objections are over 55%, the premier will have to call for a referendum within six weeks.

Sanral will also be required to, before tolling the roads, identify “an alternative route of comparable distance, which must be a tar road, be maintained adequately, and be suitable for increased usage”.

In June, Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi said that the government would review Gauteng’s e-toll policy – in the hope that a better one can be found.

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse chairperson Wayne Duvenage welcomed e-toll Plan B yesterday.

He said it was better for provincial governments to make the decisions instead of the national government.

“It will be better if the consultations are done by the National Council of Provinces and provinces which are affected,” said Duvenage. “This will mean the public is consulted meaningfully unlike in the Gauteng Freeway Project – which is why it failed.”

If provinces were consulted, he said, e-tolling would not be implemented like in the case of the Western Cape.

Sanral wanted to toll the N1 and N2 Cape Winelands highways. The City of Cape Town took Sanral to court in 2015 challenging the tolling of the roads. The court set aside Sanral’s decision to toll the roads.

In February, Gauteng Premier David Makhura said the e-tolling system was a mistake and no new tolled roads would be introduced into the province. It was revealed in Parliament by the Department of Transport in June that more than 70% of the fines issued for e-tolls were not paid by motorists.