Funding mechanisms other than e-tolls will have to be found for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), transport MEC Ismail Vadi said on Talk Radio 702 on Friday.
“I can’t predict what the recommendations [of the e-toll advisory panel] will be, but I think what is quite clear … is that we are going to have to review the funding mechanism,” he told host John Robbie.
“As a government … both at a provincial and national level, we are going to have to look at this matter more carefully and we are going to have to explore other funding options, whether it is going to be the fuel levy or not, I don’t know.
“But the reality is we are going to have to see some other mechanism.”
He said there was no doubt that the province would have to extend its highways if it wanted further economic growth.
“Sanity will prevail. We have got to take an objective look… We have got to have a reputable road network in our province — this is the most important economy, at least in Southern Africa and in this country, so we have got to build a road network,” he told Robbie.
“For that we have got to get funding, and it is quite clear the e-toll system is not the way to go in the future.”
Gauteng premier David Makhura established a panel on 17 July to assess the social and economic impact of e-tolls.
The review panel is intended to examine the economic and social impact of the GFIP and the electronic tolling system set up to fund it.
The panel is expected to present its findings to Makhura at the end of November.
The ANC in Gauteng took a resolution at its elective conference over the weekend to oppose e-tolls in the province. — Sapa
