SACCI CALLS FOR DELAY IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GAUTENG TOLLING SYSTEM

The South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (SACCI) is concerned by the uncertainty surrounding the fee system and exemptions for public transport on the Gauteng highways administered by the South African National Road Agency (SANRAL). This makes a clear case for delaying implementation until there is clarity on the toll fees and exemptions for certain road users.

SACCI is also concerned by the high penalties that will be levied on "alternate users" who would pay an estimated four to six times more than road users with registered e-tags. The discrepancy between this rate and the "normal" tariff begs the question of the degree to which alternate users will subsidise other road users (including those who are exempt) and the correlation (or the lack thereof) between the "penalty rate" and the cost of maintaining the road infrastructure.

SACCI has also commented on the recently published regulations on the policing of the e-tolling system. The regulations primarily serve to introduce a non-state "police force" on Gauteng highways to ensure that road users pay their e-toll fees.

• The introduction of a non-state police force with powers to search and confiscate private property and that is not directly accountable to an electorate is highly disturbing and against the spirit and letter of the South African Constitution.
• It is highly problematic that a CEO be given the power to appoint individuals to positions with powers similar to those of police officers.
• The high incidence of road and traffic related crime such as hijacking and use of false police uniforms by criminals in committing these crimes should reasonably inform SANRAL and the DOT of the problematic nature of giving a non-state force powers to stop, search and confiscate vehicles. It is questionable why an additional enforcement of such a non-state force is required in the first place if the electronic capturing methods installed at great cost would indeed perform as intended.
• Furthermore, there is no clarity on the cost of introducing such a policing structure and the cost of maintaining it. It is safe to assume that the cost of such a structure adds significantly to the toll tariffs that will be imposed.
• The efficiency of the authorised employees to perform their specialist duties is highly questionable as very little indication is given as to the training and qualifications necessary to become an authorised employee. Related to this, any appropriate basic training of authorised employees would translate to an implementation lag whereas the target for activation of the tolling system is 30 April 2012.

Recent events indicate that once again a lack of enforcement capacity and capabilities are being addressed by aggressive regulatory measures and raising the penalties for non-compliance.  Stronger regulation can never be a substitute for weak policing/enforcement capacity and will instead have the unintended consequence of "victimizing" a few who would attempt to comply. 

It is clear from recent developments that there remains the capacity to further rationalize the cost to the users of the toll road system.  The chamber has from the outset been concerned about the disproportionate allocation of the toll fee to maintenance of the tolling infrastructure as opposed to the road infrastructure itself.  This will add to the already substantial increases in the costs of doing business. 

In particular, small and medium enterprises, which cannot absorb the rising costs of freight transport, will pass them onto the consumer.  This will have inflationary consequences and "squeeze" the hard pressed consumer even further at a time when consumer demand needs to be encouraged in the domestic economy.

SACCI will call upon SANRAL to delay the implementation of the e-tolling system until the specifics have been clarified and to use the opportunity created by the delay to further explore opportunities for reduction of the cost to businesses and consumers.

Statement issued by CEO of SACCI, Mr Neren Rau, April 17 2012

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