THE Cape Chamber of Commerce fully supports the involvement of the private sector in the building of the country's infrastructure and it also supports the user pays principle.
"The problem we have with Sanral is that it claims to support the user pays principal but this is untrue. The users of the Huguenot Tunnel and the Nature Valley and Broukrans bridges in the Eastern Cape have already paid for these projects but Sanral continues to collect tolls," said Ms Janine Myburgh, President of the Chamber.
"The users have paid and now they are being used as cash cows by Sanral," she said.
She also pointed out that the Chamber had never said it was opposed to toll roads, but only to toll roads "within City limits". "It is a pity that Sanral did not read our comment carefully before jumping to conclusions," she said.
"Our problem with toll roads in urban areas is that they are unfair and form an extra burden on the poor. Why, for instance, should the person who lives in Somerset West pay a toll every time he goes to work in Bellville but the man from Cape Town's southern suburbs does not. This kind of thing distorts the development of the city."
The Chamber is also waiting for Sanral to explain why it increases toll fees every year. The main justification for toll roads is to pay the massive construction costs, but once a road has been built construction costs are fixed in the past. The main cost then is the repayment of the loans used to finance construction and these payments should vary very little over the repayment period.
As we have previously pointed out the Huguenot Tunnel cost R202.6 million to build in 1988, and it is at present producing more than R123m a year in toll fees. What is happening to the money, and for how much longer must the users continue paying for something they have already paid for many times?"
Perhaps Sanral could be more transparent and provide us with a pie chart which shows the numbers and percentages of toll income spent on operating costs, maintenance and the repayment of construction loans. It is in everybody's interest to understand how these things are done.
Statement issued by Janine Myburgh, President: Cape Chamber of Commerce, August 19 2014
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