While introducing the bill yesterday, Transport Minister, Ben Martins said the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill was essential for, “the appropriate implementation of the e-tolling system”, arguing that it was a requirement for the implementation of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

The bill was approved with a majority vote by the National Assembly with 193 votes to 98, while there were two abstentions.

Martins rejected the scrapping of e-tolling, stating if tolls were not collected it would impact negatively on the “ability of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) to raise capital for infrastructure development projects.” This would then, according to Martins also affect the credit reputation of investors of SANRAL.

The Democratic Alliance’s, Ian Ollis called the bill “the world’s most expensive toll collection system”, with the DA calculating it to cost R11 billion to operate over eight years. Ollis said:

We must not assume that what is affordable in so-called ‘Western countries’ is affordable in South Africa. Open-road tolling is mostly used in Western, urban and first world environments … If an individual earns R6 000 a month and drives a second-hand car to work, that individual could be required to pay an extra R550 a month for toll fees. That’s a big chunk out of your salary

The Bill will go to the National Council of Provence’s for concurrence.

[Source: Mail&Guardian]