Industry weighs in on e-tolls versus fuel levy

The e-toll versus fuel levy debate once again took centre stage when the African National Congress (ANC) in Gauteng advocated fuel levies over e-tolls at its recent provincial conference. “There is no perfect way to fund roads, but doing nothing to maintain or improve them is not an option either,” said Vusi Mona, general manager of communications at the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral). He told FTW that the ‘user-pay’ principle was a more equitable way to ensure the supply of economic infrastructure. Mona noted that the Road Freight Association (RFA) – following an investigation by economist Mike Schüssler – had indicated that a national fuel levy of 13 cents per litre would cost the freight industry R300 million per year more than the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) tolls. Barney Curtis, CEO of the Federation of East and Southern African Road Transport Associations (Fesarta), commented that the transport industry accepted that it must pay “fair costs” for the maintenance and upgrade of roads – through the fuel levy, licensing and transit user charges. “Costs of upgrading and maintaining roads should be transparent and from these costs, fair levels of levies can be calculated and transporters will pay them,” he said. Curtis suggested therefore that a fuel levy should be used to generally keep a country’s roads up to standard and that it should be ring-fenced in a road fund. All vehicles entering a country should pay a road user charge based on the extent to which they would be using the host country’s roads. In his opinion, a toll road should not be used for a main corridor, for parts of a corridor or for bridges. “Tolls should only be used for special infrastructure which transporters can choose to use, or not,” he said. “A dedicated ring-fenced fuel levy is currently not in line with National Treasury policy,” said Mona. “Furthermore, a fuel levy – ring-fenced provincially or otherwise – is not capped and would be unaffordable to the transport industry.” He pointed out that e-toll fees were capped. “The toll fees are not only minimal but are a defrayed expenditure as trucks can make more trips and wear and tear is minimised due to lessened congestion.” Alwyn Nel, managing director of Kingfisher Freight Services, also supports fuel levies in favour of tolls. “It makes sense that the fuel levy would be the most beneficial and cost-effective way. This way everyone pays when they fill up and there is no need for the personnel, toll gate construction, administration buildings and the millions of rands spent to recover fees.” The Southern African Shippers Council (SASC) in turn supports the ‘user-pay’ principle where economic volume justifies this way of direct recovery, said CEO Brenda Horne Ferreira. “This to ensure safe and reliable transport infrastructure to support our supply chains, with the proviso that the infrastructure improvements, as well as the cost and recovery thereof, result in the overall reduction in cost of doing business and make us more globally competitive,” she noted. Another industry leader told FTW: “Government ought to ensure that the wider public properly understands, supports and will comply with the policies before implementation of major projects. Instead we now find ourselves in the middle of political games where a national project with international ramifications becomes a political tool around winning or losing votes.” INSERT & CAPTION A fuel levy is not capped and would be unaffordable to the transport industry. – Vusi Mona