'Trucks not paying to use SA roads

LETTER I refer to the article published in last week’s FTW (Border chaos over diesel in Angola, FTW February 28, 2014). What Drury Parrell is saying, in essence, is that their trucks were using South Africa’s roads without paying for it. I know that the fuel levy is not directly linked to road maintenance and building, but indirectly it is. There are three ways in which trucking contributes to road infrastructure – tolls, licence fees and the fuel levy. The fuel levy is by far the most. I can already hear all the counter-arguments of how the saving was given through to the customer, how expensive it is to operate in Africa, etc etc. Bottom line is that it distorts the market if a service is provided for free – knowing full well that there are numerous other factors that do the same and that the system itself works poorly. Professor Jan Havenga, University of Johannesburg.