Publications
Partners
Controversial new toll road fees for Gauteng, set to take effect in June 2011, effectively "punish" people who drive to work, the National Consumer Forum (NCF) said.
The tolls would be unavoidable for most, NCF chairman Thami Bolani said.
"In effect, the new toll charges being sprung on commuters are penalising those people who faithfully report to work each day to keep our economy going.
"It is completely unacceptable to slap such high tolls on city highways on which commuters are forced to travel each day. With the prices of basic items such as petrol, food, municipal services and electricity already threatening to sink many households, tolls at this level will be an unbearable burden for most families.
"Imagine asking a single mother who earns R2000 or R3000 a month, and must travel from her home in Soweto to her job in Centurion every day, to come up with another few hundred rand in increased taxi fare," he said.
In a country without a proper public transport system, such tolls were quite simply an abuse of consumers' rights to affordable services, he said.
'BIG LOSERS'
In a separate statement, the Democratic Alliance in the province said small and medium businesses, and the general public, were going to be the "big losers" when the controversial new toll road tariffs were implemented.
The DA's Neil Campbell said, "While estimates of the knock-on effect of the toll on transport costs run as high as 20 percent, one must never forget that the big losers in this whole equation are once again the small, medium and micro enterprises, and Joe Public."
Large corporations in the province would be able to recoup the tax part of the toll when they filed their VAT returns, and claim all the toll fees against tax when they filed their returns every year.
"The real problems will arise for the ordinary motorist or the small business person, who is either not allowed to claim the toll fees back from tax, or who is not a VAT registered vendor," Campbell said.
Gauteng's roads and transport portfolio committee would be meeting the SA National Road Agency (Sanral) later this week, and would demand from them an explanation for the "lack of transparency and consultation" regarding the new fees.
"The battle of the toll roads is only just beginning," Campbell said.
SEEKING TRANSPORT MINISTER
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) said it was seeking a meeting with Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on the toll tariffs.
"BUSA accepts the need for effective road infrastructure funding and supports the principle of a toll road system, but there needs to be proper consultation to ensure that it does not exacerbate unemployment, or worsen the quality of life of poorer South Africans," it said in a statement.
Gauteng generated a third of the country's GDP, making the toll fees an issue of great national importance.
"It will raise the costs of doing business in South Africa even further beyond what could be considered competitive for a developing economy wanting to compete globally," BUSA said. "Those who can least afford it will be hit the hardest... BUSA has been unable to get a clear picture of the new tariffs structure and its implications for business, as Sanral indicated it was not in any position to disclose the necessary information."
Lobby group Afriforum said it had asked Sanral, in terms of the promotion of Access to Information Act, to reveal "all information used to calculate the new toll tariffs".
Afriforum said it wanted to have the information examined by experts in order to determine why the tariffs were "excessively" high.
In an announcement last week, Sanral said ordinary citizens would be expected to pay as much as 66/km in tolls.
The tolls would be unavoidable for most, NCF chairman Thami Bolani said.
"In effect, the new toll charges being sprung on commuters are penalising those people who faithfully report to work each day to keep our economy going.
"It is completely unacceptable to slap such high tolls on city highways on which commuters are forced to travel each day. With the prices of basic items such as petrol, food, municipal services and electricity already threatening to sink many households, tolls at this level will be an unbearable burden for most families.
"Imagine asking a single mother who earns R2000 or R3000 a month, and must travel from her home in Soweto to her job in Centurion every day, to come up with another few hundred rand in increased taxi fare," he said.
In a country without a proper public transport system, such tolls were quite simply an abuse of consumers' rights to affordable services, he said.
'BIG LOSERS'
In a separate statement, the Democratic Alliance in the province said small and medium businesses, and the general public, were going to be the "big losers" when the controversial new toll road tariffs were implemented.
The DA's Neil Campbell said, "While estimates of the knock-on effect of the toll on transport costs run as high as 20 percent, one must never forget that the big losers in this whole equation are once again the small, medium and micro enterprises, and Joe Public."
Large corporations in the province would be able to recoup the tax part of the toll when they filed their VAT returns, and claim all the toll fees against tax when they filed their returns every year.
"The real problems will arise for the ordinary motorist or the small business person, who is either not allowed to claim the toll fees back from tax, or who is not a VAT registered vendor," Campbell said.
Gauteng's roads and transport portfolio committee would be meeting the SA National Road Agency (Sanral) later this week, and would demand from them an explanation for the "lack of transparency and consultation" regarding the new fees.
"The battle of the toll roads is only just beginning," Campbell said.
SEEKING TRANSPORT MINISTER
Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) said it was seeking a meeting with Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele on the toll tariffs.
"BUSA accepts the need for effective road infrastructure funding and supports the principle of a toll road system, but there needs to be proper consultation to ensure that it does not exacerbate unemployment, or worsen the quality of life of poorer South Africans," it said in a statement.
Gauteng generated a third of the country's GDP, making the toll fees an issue of great national importance.
"It will raise the costs of doing business in South Africa even further beyond what could be considered competitive for a developing economy wanting to compete globally," BUSA said. "Those who can least afford it will be hit the hardest... BUSA has been unable to get a clear picture of the new tariffs structure and its implications for business, as Sanral indicated it was not in any position to disclose the necessary information."
Lobby group Afriforum said it had asked Sanral, in terms of the promotion of Access to Information Act, to reveal "all information used to calculate the new toll tariffs".
Afriforum said it wanted to have the information examined by experts in order to determine why the tariffs were "excessively" high.
In an announcement last week, Sanral said ordinary citizens would be expected to pay as much as 66/km in tolls.
