E-tolling model makes no sense
In response to Andrew Marsay’s letter (Much to be said for Gauteng tolls, February 9), it is indeed important to try to add some light to the debate on the proposed funding of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) by means of urban open-road electronic tolling.
The argument that the "vagaries of discretionary annual budgeting" would not generate reliable funding from the public purse to tackle the infrastructure backlog is a potential risk all state-owned enterprises and government departments face. The lack of funding to generate extra power capacity at Eskom is an expensive example.
This risk can, however, be mitigated when a united and broad-based society exerts its single voice to be heard. The current message is that the administration of e-tolling for the next five years could cost Gauteng road users anywhere between R9bn and R14bn to collect the estimated R23bn borrowed to fund the first 185km of the GFIP.