Continued pressure from Gauteng motorists has paid off: toll fees for the improved freeways have been slashed and the National Treasury will be paying off R5.75 billion of the debt incurred in building them.
Tolls will start being levied from 30 April and transport minister Sbu Ndebele warned that compliance would be enforced through the promulgation of new laws.
Finance minister Pravin Gordhan on Wednesday told journalists ahead of the national budget being tabled before parliament that this was not necessarily the model that would be followed with future infrastructure projects but said that the government had learned lessons from the extremely negative public reaction.
Ndebele acknowledged that Gauteng motorists’ demands were “not unreasonable” but that it was not possible for national government to have picked up the entire R20 billion tab for the upgrade of the road network.
Gordhan said that the national government’s direct contribution to the costs and the cutting of toll fees showed that it was “extremely sensitive” to the concerns that had arisen about how much motorists were going to have to pay to use the 185km network.
However he warned that there would be no deviation from the user pays principle, saying that nothing can be provided – except to the poorest – without some contribution from the user.
Toll plan Gauteng
A toll gate on the N1 North just before the Beyers Naude offramp in Gauteng. Photo: Dumisani Sibeko
Independent Newspapers
Vehicles with e-tags will pay 30c per kilometre, down from 66c previously, motorcycles will pay 20c per kilometre and non-articulated and articulated trucks would pay 75c and R1.51 per kilometre respectively.
An important concession for regular road users is that their monthly tolls will be capped at R550 a month and here will be a 15% discount in the rates after their toll fees reach R400.
Heavy vehicles will qualify for a 20 percent discount if they use the roads at certain times. This will also help avoid congestion.
Taxis and other public transport operators will be exempt from toll fees.
Gordhan also said that the Gauteng provincial government would upgrade the R55 and R101 provincial roads to provide alternatives to the tolled roads and that there would be a continued investment in other forms of public transport.
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) will be left with a total debt of R59 billion and, according to a statement released at the press conference, “to ensure sustainability, the minister of transport will table the necessary legislation to provide Sanral with enforcement powers for tolling.” - Political Bureau
