If finance minister Tito Mboweni had his way the people of Gauteng would stop complaining and pay their e-tolls.
It seemed from Mboweni’s comments on e-tolls during Wednesday’s medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), that Gauteng premier David Makhura has lost the battle to have the tolling system scrapped.
But the governing party is still sending out mixed messages on the matter, which should come as no surprise to anyone who has followed the ANC’s decision-making process.
Mboweni stated emphatically on Wednesday that Gauteng e-tolls are here to stay in their current form‚ which means road users will be expected to pay. He said that after considering several options to resolve the impasse over the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project‚ the government had decided to retain the user-pays principle.
But on Thursday, less than 24 hours after Mboweni’s announcement, cabinet said it had noted options put forward by the task team set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa — made up of Mboweni, Makhura and transport minister Fikile Mbalula — and resolved that further work be undertaken in answering to the challenges posed by the options identified. This was a big difference from Mboweni’s stance that the user-pays principle will remain in place.
Mboweni wants to fix the fiscus, while Makhura, who is also the ANC’s Gauteng chair, wants to win votes. Makhura’s dilemma is especially significant as the 2021 local government elections are imminent. If the tolling system stays, there will be serious political implications for the ANC in the province.
E-tolls have been a hot potato for the party’s provincial leadership, with the ANC losing the two key metros of Tshwane and Joburg to opposition alliances in the 2016 local government elections. Among other reasons, the party attributed the reduced support to e-tolls.
Ahead of the May 2019 general election Makhura promised Gauteng residents that the system would be scrapped and that e-tolls have no future in the province as long as the ANC is in charge. This was after the ANC in Gauteng passed a resolution at its 2018 conference that the system must go.
The ANC held on to Gauteng by the skin of its teeth in the polls, receiving just above 50% of the vote. The party is hoping to claw back a more comfortable majority in Johannesburg and Tshwane in the next election, and with the leadership crisis in the DA and resignation of Joburg mayor Herman Mashaba, this seems a realistic goal for the ANC. But if the ANC government fails to scrap e-tolls and Makhura has to backtrack on his promise, this might prove to be a pipe-dream.
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) e-tolling project, launched in December 2013, has largely been a failure as a result of low levels of compliance from Gauteng motorists. Consequently, the agency has struggled with low revenues and rising debt levels.
In March this year the Sanral board announced it had resolved to suspend the process of pursuing e-toll debt with immediate effect, which included historical debt and summonses applied for from 2015. This infuriated Mboweni, who called on Sanral to reverse the decision, saying it had implications for the bond market, the fiscus, the road agency’s own credit rating and the credit rating of the country.
The medium-term budget document shows that since 2014/2015 Sanral has incurred annual average losses of R1bn. The government has extended a total guarantee facility of R38.9bn to the agency‚ of which R30.3bn had been used by March 31 2019. Over the medium term‚ Sanral is expected to repay R10.7bn of maturing debt obligations and R10.8bn worth of interest payments.
Gauteng citizens’ refusal to pay e-tolls has probably been the most successful tax revolt in SA’s recent history, and no matter what Mboweni says people are not going to pay, regardless of him warning the country of the dire financial situation we are in.
During a briefing ahead of his medium-term budget, Mboweni reportedly compared paying e-tolls to going into Pick n Pay and buying bread. “People must appreciate the service provided and, just like they go to Pick n Pay to buy bread‚ they will pay for the use of this service,” he said.
What Mboweni does not seem to realise, however, is that as a consumer you have the choice of whether you want to buy the bread or not. With e-tolls citizens were not given a choice. Why should they pay for something they did not ask for?
The non-payment of e-tolls by residents of the province has now become a culture, as can clearly be seen in the depressed state of collections. Just as it is highly unlikely that residents of Soweto will ever pay the billions of rand of debt they owe Eskom, it is unlikely that Gauteng residents will ever pay their e-toll bills.
It remains to be seen whether Makhura and the ANC in Gauteng will back down from their support for scrapping the controversial tolls. The ANC has managed to paint itself into a corner. Residents are likely to continue living by the mantra “Phansi (down) with e-tolls, phansi!”
• Quintal is political editor.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.