E-toll costs 'acceptably low'

The collection costs for the controversial e-toll system are sufficiently low, according to finance minister Pravin Gordhan.

Speaking at a briefing yesterday, he said the cost of collection will be about 20% once the initial phase has been completed. This is once the machinery and initial costs would have been covered. The initial phase will last about a year or two.

Gordhan says this is low compared to international standards and so it's “acceptably low”.

This is despite the high operation cost of e-tolling being one of the biggest concerns with the system.

Speaking at the same briefing, deputy president Kgalema Motlanthe said the electronic tolling system is used successfully elsewhere in the world in places like China, Chile and Singapore.

“The bottom line is that boom gates don't work everywhere,” added Gordhan.

Motlanthe also said government is considering introducing an additional Appropriation Bill to assist Sanral in meeting its obligations in the short term.

Gordhan said the period being looked at for carrying Sanral is between now and the end of the year, including the repayment of Sanral's loan.

“There is a payment due in January 2013 and we will need to take care of that. The additional Bill will try to take the next period and assure Sanral and its debtors that government is setting aside for Sanral's cash flow.”

The minister also said government does not yet know where the money is going to come from. “All the options are being examined. We are trying to get a better handle on the figures. After Parliament returns from recess we will have a better idea of whether we need the additional Bill.”

In terms of the appropriation, Moody's Investors service said R270 million per month is needed by Sanral, but with operation costs it's close to R600 million per month, according to Gordhan.

Motlanthe said controversial information around the 33 subcontractors for e-tolling will be made public, but did not say when.

“We want to be transparent and any information that needs to be in the public space we will put on the Web site.”

The Democratic Alliance welcomes the confirmation that the list of the 33 subcontractors involved with the Electronic Toll Collection consortium will soon be disclosed, saying it has been calling for such disclosure for months.

A major concern with the e-tolling system is that there is no viable public transport alternative in place.

However, transport minister Sibusiso Ndebele said public transport in the country is acceptable and sufficient, and in fact there are some bus services that are underutilised.

He also mentioned that the old roads are still open for use. “There is an array of options that are there.”

Business Unity SA (BUSA) has requested a meeting with the Inter-Ministerial Committee tasked with addressing the e-tolling challenge.

“BUSA would like to raise possible long-term solutions to the broader financing and roll-out of future road and transport infrastructure.”

It adds that through consultation, measures can be identified that would mitigate any unintended consequences to the economy in delaying a resolution of this matter.