The South African Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) is misleading the public regarding a lack of public funds for e-tolling, says Ian Ollis, shadow minister of transport for the Democratic Alliance (DA).
Ollis based his claims on two independent studies, conducted by the Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) and the Southern African Bitumen Association (SABITA).
“SANRAL has argued that a fuel levy to fund road infrastructure and maintenance is insufficient, and the e-tolling is therefore necessary,” he said.
“However, two independent studies confirm that the fuel levy provides enough funding for the construction and maintenance of our roads and that there is no need for the wholesale construction of toll roads.”
According to the AA study, which was conducted in 2008, the abolishment of the dedicated fuel levy in 1988 caused deterioration in the quality of South Africa’s roads and also resulted in “significantly” less spending on road maintenance and infrastructure. Ollis said this information shows an ideal maintenance budget should have been at a total of ZAR32 billion (US$3.391 billion ) in 2008.
“I will write to the chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Transport, Ruth Bhengu, requesting that she summon the CEO of SANRAL, Nazir Alli, and the minister of transport, Ben Martins, to account for their failure to adequately explore the use of the fuel levy to fund road maintenance and that these two reports be tabled before the committee for its detailed consideration,” said Ollis.
Ollis pointed out the SABITA study revealed the government only spent an average of ZAR7.4 billion (US$784.1 million) on road maintenance and construction in the years between 2003 and 2008.
He also referred to the 2013 Budget Review, which indicated income derived from the fuel levy for the same period averaged approximately ZAR21 billion (US$2.225 billion).
“Questions must be asked why the nearly ZAR14 billion (US$1.483 billion) was not spent on road maintenance in the first place,” said Ollis.
“SANRAL and the government cannot expect South Africans to pay yet again for their ineffective use of available funding. They must stop misleading the public and be honest about what resources it has available.”
