Staff Reporter.
Gauteng Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo says that his department has put together a comprehensive plan to replace the e-tolls scheme.
Mamabolo said that the plan is based on proposals that have been properly modelled by technical experts.
“(The models) show that we can generate more money, outperform the current e-tolls financial targets, and protect the public purse.
“We submitted the models, and today we have not heard a word back (from national government). What we are hearing is AARTO trying to smuggle issues back.”
Mamabolo said that the controversial e-tolls scheme never performed financially and will not raise sufficient money going forward.
He said Gauteng was of the strong view that the freeway network being tolled served not just the province, but also the national economy, the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region as well as the international economy.
He added that the system was wrongly modelled from the start and that the national government failed to undertake a proper risk analysis.
“This was a heroic failure. People perhaps had good intentions, but what a dismal performance it turned out to be.”
In February, transport minister Fikile Mbalula confirmed that his department is working towards a final answer on e-tolls.
“We are equally enjoined to finalise the funding and tariff structure on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) by the end of this financial year,” he said.
E-tolls have met with resistance from road users since inception in 2013, leading to non-payment by many, and calls to scrap the system altogether.
Mbalula repeatedly stated to the media that the issue of e-tolls had to be resolved so that focus could be shifted to other road infrastructure projects. He said it was up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s cabinet to make a final decision on funding e-tolls following his transport department’s industry-wide consultations.
The minister said that Ramaphosa’s cabinet is set to finalise a new funding model for the project after receiving proposals from his department.
Mbalula admitted that he thought the issue would have been resolved by now, but that the process has been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.