Government gives SANRAL a R12.

Daily Maverick

Government gives SANRAL a R12.5 billion bailout to pay off debt as e-Tolling falls short. Wait, what?

SANRAL, whose sole purpose it is to MAKE money, is getting a bailout of billions according to the DA’s Manny de Freitas.

Government gives SANRAL a R12.

Daily Maverick

According to de Freitas, the e-Toll system is costing South Africa R670 million per year in fees – these fees have to be paid to the Austrian company who built the nifty little leeches for us – and is actually only bringing in around R60 million per month.

You can see how this would become a problem as the initial idea was that the e-Tolling system would make enough money for SANRAL to use as maintenance and budgeting capital to keep South Africa’s roads in working condition.

Said de Fretias, the DA’s shadow minister of transport: “I have today written to Parliament’s Budget Office requesting them to remodel the existing budget for the Department of Transport to assess whether it is financially feasible to bailout SANRAL at a cost of R12.5 billion.

“SANRAL’s financial distress is a clear sign that the e-tolling model is not working. Instead of e-tolling, if SANRAL had preferred a national fuel levy to pay for Gauteng’s freeway upgrade, we would already be years ahead in paying back the road construction debt.”

Government has on occasion conceded that the e-Tolling system might not be working as planned, but what can be done now… we’ve got the debt and the piper needs paying.