WHAT IT MEANS

Government is under pressure to prove that it can enforce unpopular policies as it finally starts electronic tolling on Gauteng’s freeways after more than two years of delays and legal challenges to the system.

The repeated delays prompted ratings downgrades for the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), the parastatal that built the roads, and concerns about government’s willingness to stand its ground on unpopular policy.

But e-tolling is also a signal to consumers of what is to come. Government plans to spend R4,3 trillion on infrastructure over the next 15 years. Despite an already steep rise in administered prices, users are expected to fund at least some of that spending.

The National Development Plan says that in the long term, “users must pay the bulk of the costs for economic infrastructure, with due protection for poor households”. Government and the fiscus are to provide guarantees so that costs can be repaid over time, it says. This will smooth prices. Social infrastructure that does not generate financial returns — such as schools or hospitals — will be financed from the budget.

SA’s requirements are enormous. New and replacement water infrastructure, for instance, is set to cost about R700bn over the next 10 years. Sanral still has a national toll roads programme, which is likely to continue despite resistance from consumers and at a slower pace. In addition to further phases of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, other national toll road projects are in the pipeline.

And state enterprises such as Eskom and Transnet have extensive capital spending plans, which will ultimately result in higher prices for electricity and transport.