R664-million overseas e-toll bill shocks and appals
Cosatu is appalled that an Austrian e-tolling company expects to make about R664 million a year from the Gauteng e-tolling system, the trade union federation said on Thursday.
“This makes the argument for tolls more and more untenable, and the argument for using taxation more and more obvious,” the Congress of SA Trade Unions said in a statement.
“This is further evidence that e-tolls amount to the commodification of our highways — a business opportunity for a private company rather than a basic public service for the community.”
Bloomberg reported that Kapsch TrafficCom AG (KTCG), the Austrian maker of toll-road systems, said it would get an annual revenue boost of “significantly more” than Euro 50 million (R664m) for eight years from the Gauteng project.
Kapsch’s board member Andre Laux reportedly said.
On Wednesday, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) denied that money collected from e-tolling in Gauteng would go overseas.
“This is simply not true,” spokesman Vusi Mona said in a statement.
“What must also be made clear is that all tolls collected on GFIP [Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project] go to Sanral. ETC [Electronic Toll Collection joint venture] is paid for services rendered on a monthly basis, and the payment is strictly according to a bill of quantities as specified in the tender contract.”
Mona said the dividends they declared could be paid to foreign companies only after income tax was paid in South Africa.
Sanral awarded the e-tolling contract to the ETC because its tender was more than R2 billion lower than the next offer, he said.
The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) expressed its shock at Kapsch TrafficCom’s announcement.
“This is money that is being extracted directly from the pockets of hard-pressed citizens to improve the profits and wealth of overseas business,” chairman Wayne Duvenage said in a statement.
“The figure Kapsch mentions is around 45 percent of the annual running costs for the e-tolling system quoted by Sanral and the South African Treasury, which depicts sizeable profits for an offshore company, paid for by the Gauteng road user.”
Cosatu said it supported Outa’s call for the Public Protector or even a possible judicial commission of inquiry to probe the e-tolling deal.
“This news will make workers more determined than ever to fight e-tolling and support the call for an efficient, safe, and affordable public transport system,” Cosatu said.
More e-toll news
E-toll revenue goes offshore after SA tax: SANRAL
E-toll shock waiting for motorists: report
Your money paid for e-toll award: DA
E-toll wins international tech award: Sanral
Nationwide toll roads a necessity: transport minister
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