E-toll prices hikes kick in next month

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has approved the 2021 toll tariffs as recommended by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), the agency has announced.

The adjustments were gazetted on 11 February 2021 and will kick in on 1 March 2021.

Through SANRAL, the department of transport said it uses selective tolling to implement major road infrastructure projects. It said that 13% of the 22,253km road network in South Africa is made up of toll roads.

“Toll roads allow for the borrowing of capital to develop road infrastructure when it is required, rather than having to wait until funds are available from an already strained fiscus,” the department stated.

“Toll monies are applied to maintain, operate and improve toll roads, as well as to service debt incurred to implement a toll road project.”

It said that the cost in the event of delayed maintenance on roads can be up to 18 times higher than it would have been if routine preventative maintenance was undertaken.

Tolls are a way to ensure that only those who make use of a road pay for its upkeep.

Price hikes in line with inflation

According to SANRAL, its tariffs are adjusted annually in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) as obtained from Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).

It said that the inflation percentage that was applied to determine the 1 March 2021 tariff adjustment is 5%.

“We use the inflation rate as a guide so that the toll tariffs remain the same in real terms,” stated Vusi Mona, SANRAL’s general manager for communications.

“This means there is effectively no increase to the rate from when the initial toll tariff that was implemented,” he said.

It is curious that SANRAL would select 5% is its benchmark for inflation, as Stats SA reported that the average inflation in 2020 was 3.3%. In 2019, the average inflation was 4.1%.

The table below summarises the tariff increases for a regular car using e-toll roads and shows that although the tariff increases are close to the official Stats SA inflation rate, the majority of increases are over 3.3%.

The e-toll tariff increases proposed by SANRAL and accepted by Minister Fikile Mbalula are therefore generally above inflation, despite SANRAL’s claims to the contrary.

MyBroadband asked SANRAL for comment on its choice of inflation rate, but the agency did not respond by the time of publication.

Now read: Big fines coming if you don’t pay e-tolls