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Increase in SA vehicle licence transaction fees 'must be explained' - JPSA

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<i>Image: Wheels24</i>
<i>Image: Wheels24</i>
Sean Parker

Johannesburg - Johannesburg - SA motorists could be forking out more to own their cars with a proposed increase for vehicle licence transaction fees from 2018, reports a Government gazette.

The Justice Project South Africa is asking Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi to justify the increase...

Earlier in October, a government gazette announced that as of February 2018, an amount of R72 (an increase of R30) will be added to all vehicle renewal fees as part of a transaction fee to be paid to the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC).

The government gazette stated: "I, Joe Maswanganyi, Minister of Transport, acting in terms of Regulation 3 of the Road Traffic Management Regulations, hereby increase and determine the amount to be paid to the Road Traffic Management Corporation in terms of Regulation 2 of the said regulations as transaction fees for the year 2017/18 as follows:

Effective date: February 1 2018 
Increase amount/Transaction fee -  R30 / R72

Justice Project of South Africa (JPSA) calls on Minister Maswanganyi "to justify, or at the very least explain the whopping increase in transaction fees he has proclaimed, especially in light of the fact that the RTMC has consistently failed to achieve its mandate with respect to enhancing road safety and reducing the catastrophically high carnage which exists on South Africa’s roads."

"The increase of R30 per transaction equates to a whopping 71.43% increase in this transaction fee, raising it from R42 per transaction to R72. In the previous year, the former Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters increased this transaction fee from R36 to R42 per transaction, an increase of 16.67%.

"The current reported inflation rate in South Africa is 4.8% as at August 2017 and therefore, the latest published transaction fee exceeds the current inflation rate by almost fifteen times."

We've included JPSA's full response later in this article.


What do you think of the proposed vehicle licence increase? Email us




JPSA responds: 

Justice Project South Africa: "According to its annual report, the RTMC managed to rake in R453,143,790 in transactions fees in the 2016/17 financial year, an increase of R33,299,526.00 or 7.93% over the 2015/16 financial year, despite fewer transactions having apparently occurred in the last financial year.

"At the same time, the remuneration package of the CEO of the RTMC increased by 31.6% from R5,950,000 in 2015/16 to an enormous R7,830,000 in the 2016/17 financial year. Other executive senior management remuneration packages at the RTMC increased by an average of 19.11% whilst non-executive Board members’ remuneration packages increased by an average of 22.16%. Simultaneously, the RTMC’s employee-related costs came to R367,107,340 in 2016/17.

"The recent termination of the RTMC’s contract with Tasima, which contact was unlawfully renewed by former Minister S’bu Ndebele in 2010, should have had the effect of decreasing the input and maintenance costs of the eNaTIS vehicle and driver registry and therefore, beyond increasing the outrageously high remuneration packages which are paid to RTMC executives and Board members, there appears to be no rational reason for the truly massive increase in transaction fees the Minister has proclaimed.

"This is more especially true given the fact that the vehicle population is growing with each year that goes by. Between 30 September 2016 and 30 September 2017, the registered vehicle population grew by 211,816, a figure which is consistent with the trends of vehicle registrations which have taken place in recent years. As at 30 September 2017, there were 12,153,062 vehicles registered on eNaTIS, all of which must be licensed annually, regardless of whether they are used on public roads or not.


What do you think of the proposed vehicle licence increase? Email us





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