The Gauteng E-tolling Thread

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Say what ?!?!?!?....
At the same time, the Supreme Court of Appeal is today expected to hear arguments over how much information should be made public in Sanral’s planned Winelands route in the Western Cape.
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:wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:
:mad::mad:

... seriously ... the courts have to decide how much information we are allowed to know ??? Jeezuz whept ...
 
http://mybroadband.co.za/news/government/122906-nasty-e-toll-prices-for-cape-town-on-the-cards.html

Cape Town residents could face toll fees as high as triple those in Gauteng should a tender awarded by Sanral go ahead. This is according to the city’s mayoral committee member for transport, Brett Herron.

The revelations come after the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the City of Cape Town regarding publicly disclosing the tolling tender, allowing it to disclose details about the N1 and N2 Toll Highway Project awarded to Protea Parkways Consortium (PPC).

Parts of the information Sanral wished to keep secret included:

Should the tolling of the N1 and N2 freeways go ahead, residents from the Western Cape and visitors to this region will pay toll tariffs that are nearly three times that of the e-toll tariffs that are being charged by the new Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
PPC’s anticipated toll revenue over the concession period (2010 values, excl. VAT) is in the region of R48 billion.
The decision to declare the Winelands toll roads was taken by Mr Nazir Alli, Chief Executive Officer of Sanral, and not by the Sanral Board, as is required by the Sanral Act.
Sanral failed to disclose the consequences of the reimbursement clause in its Concession Contract with PPC to the Sanral Board and the Transport Minister. The contract addresses the risk that the Minister may determine lower toll tariffs than the Concessionaire is entitled to charge under the Concession Contract, or may refuse or delay approving a change in the toll tariffs.
If the Minister of Transport were to determine lower toll tariffs than PPC is entitled to under the concession contract, Sanral would have to reimburse them the difference, Herron explained.

“In terms of this clause, Sanral would have to divert public funds meant for the construction and maintenance of national roads to fund PPC’s profit expectation of R48 billion.”

Importantly, the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project charges a toll tariff of 30c/km for light vehicles, while PPC’s proposed base toll tariff for light vehicles is 84.59c/km (VAT included, 2013 values).

“PPC’s rate, therefore, would require a 65% reduction in order to be equivalent to the GFIP rates.”

There were a number of other differences as well:

The GFIP toll tariffs for light vehicles are capped at R450 per month; PPC’s discount scheme does not make provision for any cap.
PPC, unlike the GFIP, does not make provision for specific time-of-day discounts.
The GFIP effectively allows for a 100% reduction for public transport while PPC only allows for a 50% reduction for public transport.
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http://businesstech.co.za/news/government/84291/new-r2-billion-vip-jets-for-zuma-and-his-cabinet/

E-toll collections deteriorate even further

Roads agency Sanral has request national treasury to increase the level of debt it is allowed to carry as e-toll collections continue its downward trend.

At the end of February Sanral managed to collect only 62% of its forecast e-toll revenue for the financial year, resulting in an e-toll shortfall of R588 million.

Even if the request to treasury is granted, immediate pressure on the Sanral finances may remain as bond auctions don’t deliver the desired results. On Wednesday Sanral’s latest bonds auction saw only one participating bidder, down from eleven a year ago.

Sanral hoped to raise R600 million, but received bids for only R320 million and at a premium rate of 99 basis point – 8 basis point wider than the current mark-to-market rate. As a result Sanral only allocated R270 million of HWAY35 bonds, Sanral CFO Inge Mulder told Moneyweb. No bids were received for the HWAY34 bonds on offer.

Sanral has been struggling since late last year to raise the required funds at its monthly bond auctions.

Mulder says while the agency is not facing a cash flow crisis at the moment, debt levels are high and cash and collections are deteriorating.

E-toll collections reached an all-time low in January of R45 million but improved to R61 million in February. She suspects it may be a timing issue as road users who were on holiday delayed payment in January, but even the average for the two months of R53 million is way below forecast collections of R200 million and R206 million for January and February respectively.

Sanral initially hoped te collect R300 million per month from e-tolls, once collections have stabilised, before concessions were made on tariffs and a monthly cap was introduced in an effort to mitigate the consumer resistance against the system.

GFIP Toll receipts v forecast

Screen-Shot-2015-04-02-at-1.51.23-PM-500x262.png

Mulder says compliance levels are currrently very low and largely bolstered by 262 000 key account holders who pay their e-tolls regularly. These are commercial vehicles, mostly class B and C (trucks) and rental vehicles and represent more than 22% of all registered road users. Only 1.2 million vehicles are registered for e-tolls, not even half of the 2.5 million vehicles using the Gauteng freeways every month.

Sanral’s budgeted expenditure of almost R8 billion on its toll portfolio (e-toll and other toll projects) for the financial year ended 31 March 2016, with R3.8 billion of that to be financed from borrowings and R4.1 billion from toll income (e-toll and other toll projects). Both those sources are currently not performing as expected.

The result is that Sanral’s e-toll operations are currently being funded by debt. To add insult to injury, the agency has short-term obligations of R2 billion in September and R2.8 billion in April next year as earlier debt matures. Unless these bonds can be refinanced either by rolling (extending maturity date) or through successful bonds auctions, the agency will have to cough up – with money it won’t have, unless something changes fundamentally.

Sanral.jpg

An announcement by deputy pres. Cyril Ramapohosa may bring that fundamental shift. Government is currently pondering a sustainable solution for the Gauteng e-toll headache and an annoucement is imminent. The solution is expected to address issues raised during the investigation of the Gauteng e-toll review panel that assessed the social impact of e-tolls on road users.

Government has made it clear that it will not abandon the e-toll system, but it is expected to take steps to simplify it. This may entail further concessions on the tariffs and the monthly cap, as well as the very punitive alternative tariffs for late payments.

Most importantly, it is also expected to address the enforcement of e-tolls. At the moment compliant road users who regularly pay their e-tolls feel increasingly prejudiced by the lack of consequences for the defaulters and increasingly also revert to non-payment.

Clarity is also expected about the next phases of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, especially the funding model.

The controvercy and political uncertainty has been devastating for Sanral’s toll portfolio. It was downgraded from Moody’s very respectable investment grade A3 long-term rating with a stable outlook in August 2009 to the current one notch above junkstatus (Baa3) with a negative outlook.

The brief stabilization followed after tolling commenced on December 2013, but the downgradings resumed after Gauteng premier David Makhura announced the appointment of the review panel in July last year.

Mulder says the biggest impact of the downgrades are that fund managers are limited by their mandates to invest in low investment grade bonds and would certainly not be able to lend their money to sub-investment grade issuers.

Mulder points out that the problems in the toll portfolio does not affect the agency’s non-toll portfolio that makes out 85% of its business and carries 80% of the coutry’s freight. The non-toll portfolio is funded from the national budget and road maintenance and expansion continues, she says.
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Government has made it clear that it will not abandon the e-toll system
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I'm making it clear that I won't abandon not paying for the e-toll system
 
There was a time when Actual actually exceeded Forecast? Guess they were too pesimistic in their forecasting back then but were too optimistic for now.
 
supersunbird said:
There was a time when Actual actually exceeded Forecast? Guess they were too pesimistic in their forecasting back then but were too optimistic for now.
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and that's exactly what OUTA forecast would happen - once people see other people not paying and getting away with it, even tagged people will stop paying

I'm loving this chaos and embarrassment for the thieving swines
 
supersunbird said:
There was a time when Actual actually exceeded Forecast? Guess they were too pesimistic in their forecasting back then but were too optimistic for now.
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No, I think the actual never exceeded forecast, but they did say they were "satisfied" with it.
 
Government has made it clear that it will not abandon the e-toll system, but it is expected to take steps to simplify it. This may entail further concessions on the tariffs and the monthly cap, as well as the very punitive alternative tariffs for late payments.
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The only acceptable concession I would accept is etrolling imposed solely on cANCer government politicians in their personal capacity such that the fees are heavily loaded and there is no cap, everyone else (individuals and businesses should be exempt).
 
Ramaphosa: Panel found the implementation of the Gauteng toll project has actually hugely benefited the economy as well as the people of Gauteng to have a better road system which reduced travel time.

Ramaphosa: Experts well versed in transport, the economy and the environment took part in the assessment.

Ramaphosa: Yes people believe they should pay for the use of the roads - the panel found, but e-toll system places a disproportional burden on lower income people.
 
Reduced monthly cap:All users are now deemed registered

A1: R280 to R125 - 50% reduction

A2: R450 to R225 - 50% reduction

B: R1750 to r875 - 50% reduction

C: R3500 to R2900 - 17% reduction

LOL

F U
 
Ramaphosa: Motorists will have to settle any outstanding e-toll fees before they can renew their motor vehicle licences.
 
rakabos3 said:
Ramaphosa: Motorists will have to settle any outstanding e-toll fees before they can renew their motor vehicle licences.
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LOL, good luck with that :D

They tried the same now with outstanding traffic fines. Pop a R 100 to cashier or via a contact and you get your disc no problem without paying the fines. The problem is that the cashier needs to verify that all fines are paid. They just don't do it and print the disc. There is no system restriction.
 
Ramaphosa: Motorists will have to settle any outstanding e-toll fees before they can renew their motor vehicle licences.
 
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