War of words over Cape tolls continues

A dispute over the proposed tolling of the N1/ N2 Winelands highway is continuing despite assurances from the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) that e-tolling is not on the cards in the Western Cape. According to Brett Herron, City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for Transport, the City remains opposed to the tolling of the road, regardless of Sanral’s business model. “We are not concerned with the method of tolling but rather opposed to the whole idea of tolling – irrespective of how it may be enforced,” he said. The City and Sanral have been embroiled in a bitter battle over the N1/ N2 Winelands project that aims to toll some 170km of highway in the Western Cape at an estimated cost of about R10bn. Plans include the construction of a 13km new section of N2 in Somerset West, some 14 new/ upgraded interchanges, the opening and provision of a second tunnel next to the Huguenot Tunnel at Du Toitskloof, as well as the infrastructure and equipment for several tolls along the two highways. Both parties have gone to court over the project – the City lodged papers in the Western High Court to stop Sanral going ahead with its plans, while Sanral has called on the court to protect its tender process by not allowing details pertaining to proposed tolls in the province to be heard in an open court. In the first case the court granted the City an interdict in May last year that prevents Sanral from continuing with its proprosed tolling of the N1 and N2 until the finalisation of the City’s review application that is still ongoing, while a decision from the court is imminent with regard to the second case. In the meantime Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona said concerns that e-tolling would be implemented in the Western Cape were grossly misleading and that it was not on the cards at present for the province. “In Gauteng we went out to borrow money in order to build the road. In Cape Town we will be appointing a concessionaire on a build, operate and transfer basis. This means the concessionaire will design, finance, operate and maintain the road, returning it to the state in a specified condition at the concession period.” He said conventional toll plazas would be erected and operated on the N2, a move that has been welcomed by several organisations in the City including the Cape Chamber of Commerce and Industry. But, said Janine Myburgh, president of the Chamber, they were concerned about Sanral’s insistence to toll. “We are concerned that, if the N1 and N2 tolls roads go ahead, toll fees will be low to start with and will then be increased regularly as we have seen with other toll roads,” said Myburgh. Peter Hugo, chairman of the Chamber’s transport portfolio committee, said Sanral had, unfortunately, set very bad examples by charging exorbitant toll fees long after the construction costs of some of its projects had been recovered. Herron said the City would continue to reject the tolling proposal on the basis that the road upgrades were not necessary and that ultimately the tolling would have a disproportionate impact on poor and low-income residents, increasing the cost of transport in the City and the province. “In addition we believe that the process being undertaken to get the N1 and N2 declared as toll roads is improper and unlawful,” he said. Mona, however, maintains that the projects will create at least 5000 jobs during the construction phase alone to workers at the lower end of the income spectrum. He said tolling was necessary as the fiscus was not in a position to finance the process. The R10 billion required was the same amount as had been allocated for the upgrade of the entire national road network per annum. “We obviously can’t allocate our entire budget to two national roads that pass through one city. The fiscus is under pressure and we have to find alternative ways of financing road infrastructure.” Asked about the necessity of the upgrade Mona said there would be a real benefit to road users when using the facilities after the upgrades in comparison with what it was at present. INSERT & CAPTION We are not concerned with the method of tolling but rather opposed to the whole idea of tolling – irrespective of how it may be enforced. - Brett Herron