Government rethinks funding of second phase of GFIP

The decision to freeze the second phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) does not mean the project is off the cards but rather that the country needs to rethink the way it funds its infrastructure, Minister of Transport Sibusiso Ndebele said. According to Ndebele, the public is less antagonistic towards tolls on national routes than those related to the GFIP. “The other tolls have been less controversial and on our national roads – be it the N1, N2, N3 or N4 – it has not been problematic to toll,” he said. “We are currently in consultation with the Eastern Cape government around the tolling of a part of the N2 for example, and the process of consultation is agreed upon with tolls set to be implemented.” He said the GFIP did however teach government some valuable lessons. He was not willing to comment on the law suit the DoT was facing in regard to the tolls that will be implemented on April 30. Ndebele said the second phase of the project remained on hold. “We are not saying the project has been done away with. Not at all. Think of the Ben Schoeman without the upgrades – it was horrendous with bumper-to-bumper traffic. The upgrading of the infrastructure is not the issue, the GFIP remains a good investment, but the funding structure is what was problematic,” he said. “We need to think through how we proceed with phase 2 of this programme. We are committed to paying back the R20 billion. The next phase is not called off, but it will remain frozen until such time that we find funding structures that are suitable. This is a golden opportunity to rethink how we pay for our infrastructure, where we should be upgrading it and how we should pay for it.”