Johannesburg - The proposal by the Gauteng ANC to fund e-tolls through a fuel levy has been welcomed by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance.
The ANC provincial lekgotla at the weekend resolved to push ahead with plans to propose the imposition of a fuel levy as among the viable means to pay for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
In welcoming the provincial ANC’s stand, Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said on Tuesday morning the proposal was “spot on”.
“Many other complicated ways of recovering the money have been proposed, but this is the easiest and most logical.
“We know national government and SA National Roads Agency are opposing this – like a dog with a bone, they will not let go.”
Sources in the provincial ANC leadership said on Monday the lekgotla was resolute in its stance that a fuel levy remained a practical way to fund the roads infrastructure, while also proposing a modest increase in motor vehicle licence fees.
The provincial leadership will push for these proposals during a meeting with interested parties on Friday. The resolutions effectively call for a review and rejection of the e-toll model.
‘CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE’
The Gauteng government has been at loggerheads with the national government since Premier David Makhura called for the e-toll review process.
However, an ANC source in Gauteng said: “We are not personalising or politicising anything. The reality is that there is a low level of compliance bordering on civil disobedience.
“What we are saying is ‘come with something reasonable, affordable and equitable’. We must move away from the e-toll payment model - it’s simply not affordable.”
Gauteng ANC spokesman Dumisa Ntuli confirmed the lekgotla had endorsed the advisory panel to review the project’s socio-economic effects. “The lekgotla reiterated our position that `e-tolls in their current form are undesirable and unworkable,” Ntuli said.
Another source said: “The national government’s argument falls short. These are not Gauteng roads alone, they are national roads in Gauteng.
“Look at the fiscal contribution of Gauteng, it’s huge; the national government can’t ignore that.”
Other suggestions were a reduced cap on e-tolls, a ring-fenced national fuel levy, increasing the cost of advertising along the toll routes, increasing and ring-fencing a portion of licence fees, increasing fees for tyres, and recovery of costs from the construction industry.
The Star