The sudden resignation of Salahdin Yacoubi - CEO of the company appointed to run Gauteng's e-toll system - just before the system is finally set to go live after three years of delays, has raised eyebrows.
Yacoubi, CEO of Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) - a consortium especially set up four years ago to manage the SA National Roads Agency's (Sanral's) e-toll system - yesterday resigned with immediate effect. ITWeb is awaiting full details of his departure and replacement from Kapsch TrafficCom, majority owner of ETC.
The move has sparked suspicion within the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), which says - given its proximity to the implementation of e-tolls - Yacoubi's resignation spells trouble for e-tolls. "Until we know the facts, we can only assume that challenges and difficulties arising from the system's inefficiencies may have played some part in [his] sudden departure."
Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage says Outa is surprised by the move, which indicates something is amiss. "And if Yacoubi's departure is not for personal reasons, this would indicate possible problems within the e-toll camp."
Duvenage says departures at an executive level do not happen at such short notice when the ship is sailing on a steady course - "and surely not on the eve of the e-toll programme launch, which is now almost three years behind its initial launch date".
Sanral awarded the contract for e-tolling implementation to ETC, which is 56.81%-owned by Austria-based Kapsch TrafficCom and 35% held by SA-based Traffic Management Technologies. It tendered R6.22 billion for design and construction of the toll system.
Because ETC is a single purpose company, the only business it can deal in is that of Gauteng's e-roads. It was established to deliver a 10-year contract worth EUR650 million (about R8.9 billion) - providing EUR130 million of e-toll systems and EUR520 million of open road tolling collection services across the 185km of highways forming part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).
No bother
Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona says the roads agency had learnt of Yacoubi's abrupt exit, but did not provide any details as to the reasons for this.
Mona says ETC is tied to a contract with Sanral and so the resignation of its CEO would have no impact. "The work ETC is doing for Sanral will continue."
Sanral pays ETC in the region of R25 million per month for the operating costs of e-tolls, including the rental of e-toll kiosks across Gauteng, rates and taxes, and e-toll maintenance.
Mona says Duvenage's "alarmist" statement is another case of the Outa head shouting fire in a packed cinema. "He does have to try his best to remain relevant."
Duvenage was today announced "Hero of the Month" by Lead SA - an initiative by Primedia Broadcasting that encourages South Africans to do the right thing and recognises those it deems instrumental in making the country a better place.
Twitter tiff
The issue of Yacoubi's sudden resignation and the suspicion Outa says it arouses started a back-and-forth on Twitter a few hours ago, between Justice Project SA (JPSA) and Department of Transport (DOT) spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso.
Rikhotso tweeted: "So poor guy can't move on with his life because Wayne will raise suspicion? Who questioned his departure from Avis?"
He subsequently responded to another tweet saying there was no mystery in Duvenage's move from Avis: "But OUTA is not a company. It's a protest movement. You can't even compare it with Avis. The ETC issue is employer/employee."
The DOT mouthpiece went on later to say: "Well now that the world is suspicious of everything incl resignations, I'm sure I can be allowed to wonder?" to which JPSA retorted: "Is your ignorance intentional or is it just blissful? Not everyone has our taxes at their disposal you know?"
Tolling expert
Yacoubi has over two decades of experience in electronic tolling, including more than a decade of delivering two major open road tolling toll roads in Melbourne, Australia and Santiago, Chile.
His LinkedIn profile states: "Delivered hi-tech-based and mission-critical solutions for large open road tolling projects, within scope, schedule and financial constraints."
He lists his specialities as "bidding related management, negotiations, win strategies"; as well as setting up and leading large start-up companies, to manage large contract (USD 500 m+) and high risk delivery.
Share