Whoops - controversial possibly - sorry
May 5 2012 at 04:28pm
"South African unions took to the streets. Big business added its
opposition to proposed tolls to pay for road upgrades for the nation's
commercial hub, saying an irrational plan was being imposed on citizens
by the governing African National Congress"
Approaching one of the toll roads in daylight
Four days before a sophisticated electronic
tolling system was to have started working on April 30, the ANC
announced the project, already repeatedly delayed, would be postponed
another month.
The ANC will use the time to talk
with unions and others about finding alternatives for paying back the 20
billion rand (about $2.5 billion) borrowed on international markets to
build the tolling system and upgrade 185 kilometres (115 miles) of
highway in and around Johannesburg.
Getting closer ...
Apart
from the rejection of the fees that were considered too high by the
public, trade unions and business, there have also been calls for
greater transparency in the project.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for transport in Gauteng Neil Campbell recently mentioned an “apparent clandestine agreement between Sanral and the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) to share the spoils of the toll road fees”.
He said that apart from government taking a 14% VAT cut on the 66c/km toll fee, “it now seems that 30c/km is earmarked for the Gauteng coffers. This means that about 9c would be siphoned to national government in VAT and 30c to the GDRT, meaning that Sanral would only receive slightly less than 30c/km”.
Campbell says discounts are still applicable to this figure, so the actual cost of the construction and maintenance of the Gauteng highway improvement is probably in the ballpark of 25-27c/km.
“It is unacceptable that the motoring public is kept in the dark as to the actual costs of the highway upgrades. When scandals such as this are exposed, it compels the public to wonder why the powers that be take them to be nothing more than 'stupid' milk cows.”
The Road Freight Association says cars should be charged a toll fee of about 5c/km since this is the figure it got from road construction businesses, which indicated this is roughly the cost per kilometre.
“The public uproar that resulted in [transport] minister [Sibusiso] Ndebele suspending the costing of the toll will seem like a gentle wave of dissention compared to the tsunami that will be forthcoming if the minister does not come clean on the actual costs, profits, incentives, overseas profits and government's 'cut' of the profits,” says Campbell.
However, Sanral communications project manager Wanda Cloete says Sanral has not entered into any agreement with the GDRT relating to the sharing of toll fee revenue.
The GDRT says it cannot comment on the matter.
Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson for transport in Gauteng Neil Campbell recently mentioned an “apparent clandestine agreement between Sanral and the Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport (GDRT) to share the spoils of the toll road fees”.
He said that apart from government taking a 14% VAT cut on the 66c/km toll fee, “it now seems that 30c/km is earmarked for the Gauteng coffers. This means that about 9c would be siphoned to national government in VAT and 30c to the GDRT, meaning that Sanral would only receive slightly less than 30c/km”.
Campbell says discounts are still applicable to this figure, so the actual cost of the construction and maintenance of the Gauteng highway improvement is probably in the ballpark of 25-27c/km.
“It is unacceptable that the motoring public is kept in the dark as to the actual costs of the highway upgrades. When scandals such as this are exposed, it compels the public to wonder why the powers that be take them to be nothing more than 'stupid' milk cows.”
The Road Freight Association says cars should be charged a toll fee of about 5c/km since this is the figure it got from road construction businesses, which indicated this is roughly the cost per kilometre.
“The public uproar that resulted in [transport] minister [Sibusiso] Ndebele suspending the costing of the toll will seem like a gentle wave of dissention compared to the tsunami that will be forthcoming if the minister does not come clean on the actual costs, profits, incentives, overseas profits and government's 'cut' of the profits,” says Campbell.
However, Sanral communications project manager Wanda Cloete says Sanral has not entered into any agreement with the GDRT relating to the sharing of toll fee revenue.
The GDRT says it cannot comment on the matter.
Night time views
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