Gauteng e-tolls to go ‘uncapped’

Added by Editor on 22 February 2012.
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Pravin Gordhan

Finance minister Pravin Gordhan has moved to calm the controversy over electronic tolls on Gauteng’s upgraded highways, saying monthly fees will be capped at a maximum R550/month.

Gordhan says the fees, which will be imposed from 30 April, will also be reduced to 30c/km rather than the proposed 60c.

There will be a 15% discount after users have incurred a charge of R400 in a given month “to remove uncertainty and provide relief to frequent users”.

Heavy vehicles will also be eligible for a 20% discount on tolls if they use the roads during certain hours of the day when traffic is lighter.

Gordhan says a special R5,8bn “appropriation” has been included in the 2011/12 budget to reduce the toll burden on Gauteng consumers.

“I am mindful that the introduction of tolling to finance the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme has caused considerable public reaction,” Gordhan says. “We have listened carefully to the various suggestions and appreciate the difficulties that might be faced.”

The total debt associated with the project was R20bn, but that will be reduced to R14,2bn in light of the appropriation. This is intended to reduce the debt to be repaid through the toll system, thus making it possible to reduce the proposed fees for road users.

Gordhan says it is important to remember that road-user charges also serve an “important demand management function” on roads that are heavily congested, and that road users should remember the benefits the new freeways offer, including lower vehicle operating costs, time saved and improved safety.

He adds that the additional revenue the toll roads will generate will allow for improved maintenance of regional and provincial roads.

“Government will carefully evaluate future road infrastructure funding. In addition, the further development of efficient and cost-effective public transport systems will receive the urgent attention of the department of transport,” says Gordhan.  — Craig Wilson, TechCentral, with Sapa

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  • http://twitter.com/mobivangelist Peter Matthaei

    Maybe I’m missing something here, but the title says “Gauteng e-tolls to go ‘uncapped’”, followed in the first paragraph by “[Gordhan said] monthly fees will be capped at a maximum R550/month”.

    So which is it? Capped or uncapped? Or does ‘uncapped’ – when it’s in quotes – mean capped? Or is it just my reading comprehension that has plummeted (also a possibility after just watching the retched but grimly entertaining My Super Sweet World Class Cape Town).

  • mcleodd

    R550/month to travel between Joburg 50 times a day if you want to…

  • http://twitter.com/mobivangelist Peter Matthaei

    Aaaaah – capped fees, uncapped travel. Right. Now it makes sense :-)

  • http://twitter.com/endsofinvention Ends

    No it doesn’t. The amount you travel has never been capped. The title is incorrect and misleading.

  • http://twitter.com/endsofinvention Ends

    So by 2016 we will have paid for the toll roads…? Bearing in mind that construction started in 2008 and is still a long way from completion (the N12 is still a complete mess) we will have paid for the roads in less time than it took to build them. There is still a lot of construction going on on the N3 and parts of it retain water like a menopausal woman when it rains. What recourse do we have against this shoddy workmanship that we will be Taxed for? I am starting to sympathise with violent protesters. The government is pushing too many buttons. Just about everything this country makes or imports travels through Gauteng and I doubt anyone in SA will be unaffected by this tax that the poor will wind up paying. Anyone with leverage; manufacturers, white collar types, service providers, will pass this cost on until it gets thinly spread on the low income earners with little to no bargaining power. Thank goodness we have so many of them…

  • Greg Mahlknecht

    I don’t think it’s misleading at all.  Pay a flat fee, get unlimited travel allowance.  Uncapped travel.  This is a technology site, one would expect using computer terms to describe it. I don’t think it was ever suggested there was an absolute limit on how much you could travel.

  • monocular

    Gordhan is the consummate politician. These concessions around capping, reduced tolling rates per kilometer etc are all about gaining public acceptance of the dangerous new concept of tolling urban roads and about getting the infrastructure in place to impose this tax. This is just the ‘thin end of the wedge’. Once that sticker is on your windscreen we will see a never ending ratcheting-up of the toll tax and additional roads being included in the toll net in coming years. I also fear that other cities such as Durban and Cape Town will come under pressure to toll urban roads in the same way as the current plan puts Gauteng at a massive disadvantage in the country. If you were locating a new factory, would you choose to place  it in Gauteng? However the other side of the coin is that this ANC regime did not get to rule by magic. The electorate put them there, and it is only right that they now suffer the consequences of their bad decision. South Africans are truly getting the government they deserve!

  • http://twitter.com/sulaimanct Sulaiman Fredericks

    Silver lining in the cloud, businesses move their main operations to Cape Town as it is now much cheaper to operate here? Far fetched but reality in your operational expenditure…

  • Network

    Will commercial trucks also be capped?
     

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