The Democratic Alliance (DA) says initial findings of a survey on e-tolling's effect on small companies show the controversial system is killing jobs and businesses in Gauteng.
This comes as Gauteng premier David Makhura's 15-member panel prepares to wrap up its report on the social and economic impact of e-tolling on the province, a process the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) and Department of Transport have now said they will join, subsequent to the end of the hearings.
The DA says the results of its survey, of 50 small businesses, show the entities have, so far this year, paid R850 000 in bills, with the highest cumulative bill incurred by a single enterprise coming in at R101 761, which translates to more than R10 000 a month.
The official opposition says businesses have selected several options to deal with the financial burden, including passing the cost on to clients, retrenchments, or scaling down their business models. The results of the survey were not included along with its statement.
Sanral's latest annual report shows it may not be likely to claw back all the debt charged to users that has fallen outside its seven-day grace period. The report, for the year to March, shows it earned R1.145 billion from the system.
This, assuming Sanral's claim of 2.5 million motorists using the electronic freeways monthly is accurate, means each user is only forking out R114.50 a month.
In notes to its financial statements, it says - of the R2.27 billion charged in total - R1.123 billion was not recognised "because the probability/reliable measurement" has not been met. It adds this amount, which falls outside the seven-day grace period, is unlikely to be collected - or "realised" - because it has no historical information upon which to base trends, including the likely outcome of prosecution.
Sanral has repeatedly defended the user pays principle, noting it aims to appear before the panel to clear up "misconceptions" and distortions around the system.
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