Pressed motorists unhappy about e-tolls

01 July 2011 - 02:03 By AMUKELANI CHAUKE and SIPHO MASOMBUKA
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Gauteng transport director-general George Mahlalela announced a reduction in the proposed toll fees. File photo
Gauteng transport director-general George Mahlalela announced a reduction in the proposed toll fees. File photo
Image: LEBOHANG MASHILOANE

The revised Gauteng e-tolls will be a burden to motorists, business and commuters, many of whom will struggle to afford to get to work.

George Mahlalela, director-general of the department of transport, announced slightly reduced toll tariffs in Midrand yesterday, which will soon be presented to cabinet.

While the reduction was widely welcomed, many still believe that tolls are not the best way of funding freeway maintenance.

Pretoria resident Frank Ndala travels daily to work in Johannesburg. He said he would have to fork out R49 a day on tolls alone, which works out to R245 a week and R980 a month.

Ndala already spends R2200 a month on petrol to go to work. His travelling costs will now shoot up to R3180 a month.

"I do not know where all this money will come from. I am already sacrificing on other necessities to be able to afford petrol and I have nothing to sacrifice for these toll fees.

"My budget is going to be a real nightmare now and this makes me angry because I do not see any need for us to pay for this existing infrastructure. If it was a new road, I would understand. It means now I have to sacrifice my children's school fees or groceries to be able to go to work. I hate this scam," he said.

While taxi organisations still insist that they should be exempt from toll fees, political and business bodies called for the freeway upgrade to be funded from fuel levies.

Coenraad Bezuidenhout, acting executive director of economic policy for Business Unity South Africa, said the tolls reduced business competitiveness and job creation.

Neil Campbell, the DA's Gauteng spokesman for transport, said that while they were pleased the department had reduced the tariffs, he did not know if the tolling system would be sustainable.

"They still haven't addressed the issue of how much it actually costs to collect these tolls, whether there has been any testing on the whole collection process, whether the banks can handle it," he said.

"We are very concerned about the lack of transparency in the whole process."

Anton Alberts, Freedom Front Plus's parliamentary spokesman on transport, said the inputs from the consultative process were not considered. "The report merely defended the existing economic models without referring to any alternatives."

Alberts said he would like to see people "within the middle-class income band and those who fall below it pay less for tariffs".

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