01 JULY 2011 – SAVRALA PRESS RELEASE
According to SAVRALA, the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project e-toll engagement process was an exercise in smoke and mirrors
The motoring industry and in particular the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (SAVRALA) and its members have been waiting with bated breath for yesterday’s engagement meeting with the Director General of Transport. Sadly, the announcement by Mr George Mahlalela on 30th June of the recommended reduced toll fees and other measures was hugely disappointing.
Linda Kotze, President of SAVRALA, said that none of the real issues were addressed and that some of the more detailed and crucial concerns about both the administrative cost of the tolling system (estimated at R6,2billion over 5 years) and the real risk posed to the proposed income model through the lack of compliance by road users of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) remain unanswered. Kotze went on to say that neither the draft Steering Committee report published last week, nor the toll project reviews conducted by two leading accounting firms addressed the funding model risks presented if drivers did not actually pay their toll fees.
Kotze further commented that SAVRALA’s questions around the impact of an estimated traffic fine collection rate of 20%, as a proxy for e-toll compliance, may have a significant impact on the income model. These concerns remain unanswered and are of grave concern should the tolling model be implemented.
The announcement by the Director General of an independent regulator to oversee, for example, tolling fares and the setting up of a formal structure for stakeholders to more directly and regularly engage with the Department of Transport, is welcome and a positive development.
SAVRALA has always welcomed the much overdue GFIP improvements and is willing to pay for these but remains unmoved by the arguments given to date by the ORT Steering Committee and National Treasury – which disregard the merits of the fuel levy as a collection method for road improvements.
The ORT Steering Committee Draft Report (page 26) makes reference to and discounts ring fencing, on the basis that it is not National Treasury policy and ‘brings about inefficiencies in government spending over time as the lack of transparency means that agencies lose the accountability of the budget process for how effectively they apply the funds’. As far as SAVRALA is concerned, these reasons would appear to be selective in application as the National Treasury already annually funds various Provincial, National and Local authorities with billions of Rands for road upgrades and maintenance. SAVRALA feels that the road users and SAVRALA members are entitled to an adequate and transparent explanation of why ring fencing works for the RAF (Road Accident Fund) and, more recently, the fuel pipeline.
In addition, the ‘user-pay’ methodology is being selectively applied to the high volume commuter routes as an ‘urban toll’ in Gauteng and not as a consistent methodology across all road infrastructure projects.
In their draft report, the ORT Steering Committee has also ‘recognised the need for a holistic approach to the GFIP and therefore the public transport transformation work stream will continue as a longer term work stream to assist in the identified interventions’. SAVRALA openly welcomes the focus on an integrated public transport plan, but would like these solutions in place thereby offering commuters a truly safe and reliable alternative to their private vehicles before urban tolling is again considered.
SAVRALA remains concerned that many of the tolling implementation risks and concerns have not been adequately addressed by the ORT Steering Committee. SAVRALA remains committed to working with the Department of Transport and any stakeholder or road user to ensure that an efficient, effective and fair road funding methodology is developed.
ENDS
PRESS RELEASE ISSUED ON BEHALF OF SAVRALA BY ADZOO. CONTACT LILI REES ON [email protected] or 011 462 0976.