Gauteng government puts final nail in the e-tolls coffin
THE Gauteng government is considering using revenue collected from casinos, renewal of motor vehicles licences and other revenue measures to pay its 30% share of the e-tolls debt.
This was revealed by the Gauteng Finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo in his Mid-Term Budget Policy Statement in the legislature yesterday.
This comes after Finance Minister
Enoch Godongwana announced that the national government would take responsibility for 70% of the e-tolls debt, including the improvement of the road infrastructure in other parts of the country.
The province undertook to repay a 30% contribution to the e-tolls debt as well maintaining and expanding the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project road network.
“As Gauteng provincial government, we will optimise existing sources of revenue and introduce alternative sources of revenue without burdening further the citizens of the province.
“The Gauteng provincial government reaffirms its commitment to the repayment of the 30% share of debt amounting to R12.9 billion … e-tolls gantries will not be part of the future Gauteng provincial government revenue generation model. This closes the chapter on e-tolls,” Mamabolo said.
He said Premier Panyaza Lesufi, Godongwana and the SA National
Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) technical team met on Monday.
It was agreed that, as part of the implementation of the announcement made with the minister, the national government and Gauteng would conclude a memorandum of agreement to address the provincial government’s proposal of a hybrid model of financing its e-tolls and freeway project obligations.
“The memorandum will also include the date to switch off the gantries and repurposing them for crime fighting. I am also pleased to announce that in the current financial year, there will be no specific allocation that is required for the repayment of e-tolls,” he said.
Mamabolo also revealed that the government was planning to collect R7.2bn from existing revenue sources as part of its efforts to resource provincial priorities within a challenging environment from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.