When the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project was being planned in 2004 we assumed the costs for the road maintenance would come from taxes as well as the fuel levy, which is currently sitting at R2.13 per litre. This equates to over R40 billion per annum which is far more than what is spent on South Africa’s roads. The 185km upgrade which SANRAL estimated in 2006 to cost R6.8 billion had risen in 5 years to over R17.9 billion, upon investigation thanks to the Competition Commission Investigation we found that society had been overcharged due to construction company collusion. Whether SANRAL will get the money back will have to be seen.
In October 2007, SANRAL conducted a dismal Public Engagement Program, which consisted of one unclear advert in about six newspapers, the response: 28 out of 3.5 million motorists responded to this advert.
In 2009, the tender was awarded to the ETC Joint Venture, which is 85% owned by Kapsch Traffic Com. The tender of R10.1 billion reflect a cost, among other things, of R8.4 billion for operational and maintenance of e-toll collections. R8.4 billion per year for 5 years is a lot of money before R1 is spent on the actual tarmac.
Kapsch announced publically in June 2013 that they would earn at least R670 million per annum from this joint venture.
If when GFIB was being planned in 2006 a mere 9c extra was added to the fuel levy, combined with the R5.7 billion allocated by treasury to road maintenance in 2012 they would have already raised enough funds for maintenance of the roads.
