While e-tolling is just a couple of parliamentary processes away from implementation in Gauteng, people are still up in arms over what is commonly perceived as another means for government to squeeze even more money out of its taxpayers.
The formal backlash against e-tolls in Gauteng is, however, now widely considered to be a lost cause. The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance's (Outa’s) bid to appeal against a high court decision that ruled in favour of the South African National Road Agency (Sanral) has been deemed likely to fail by legal experts.
Motorists have also been advised that waiting for the outcome of the appeal before buying their e-tags is futile, with SANRAL claiming that the appeal has “nothing to do with whether e-tolling should go ahead or not”.
Commitment and transparency
So as e-tolling looms as yet another certainty to add to life alongside death and taxes, I have to wonder about the ways in which the process could have been handled differently. When it comes to the extremely negative public reaction to e-tolls, I believe the public would have been entirely or at least much more accommodating of the new system if SANRAL simply addressed the following key issues:
1. There is an apparent serious lack of commitment to the national road grid as a whole. Secondary roads such as the Oliviershoek pass road have collapsed. This begs the question, how many businesses or secondary roads have collapsed or suffered because of sheer negligence? This makes e-tolling look and feel as if it is simply milking the taxpayer “cow” to death.
2. If the public and affected parties were walked through the National Plan and transparently presented with the financial merits of the e-tolling costs, I firmly believe a lot of the criticism against the project could be diluted. SANRAL needs to inform the public – we have been taken for a ride for too long. Surely there is great opportunity in changing perceptions and getting the public onboard by making them understand the costs and problems of a national grid.
Bigger picture
The real issue for me is that South Africans want the road grid that we have had and enjoyed before. Instead, in the current situation, the excellent national roads are now considerably better than the rest of our roads.
While it is fantastic to have SANRAL managed roads, the problem is that as soon as you leave these main arteries, the “journey” really begins.
I would like to plead with SANRAL to present or manage the macro plan, not just the minority national foot print. I bet the general public would participate with enthusiasm if we had this plan and transparency. In fact, I am willing to put money on it.
Opinion: Chris Barry, Managing Director of Heavy Commercial Vehicle Underwriting Managers (Pty) Ltd
