The tolling of Gauteng motorways will not start on June 1, as previously announced by South African National Road Agency Limited (Sanral).

This comes after a steering committee, appointed by Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele to review the proposed tariffs, missed the end-of-April deadline to hand over a report on their findings.

The committee was appointed in February after an outcry by members of the public and various organisations that the poor would be badly affected.

The Deputy Director General of Transport Thami Ngidi said that a report on the findings could be expected in a month’s time “because the committee was still finalising the report”.

He said that the committee still needed to engage with stakeholders who made submissions in order to finalise the report.

“It is only after this consultation that the Minister will be in a position to issue a final decision on the toll tariff. He will need to apply his mind to the report,” Ngidi said.

He stressed that the extension of the deadline had nothing to do with the upcoming elections.

“It has nothing to do with elections, but to ensure the process has integrity. It is of singular importance to us that this process retains its integrity and that the outcome reflects the honest engagement we have had with our people across the spectrum,” he said.

He added that logically speaking, the outcome (of the toll cost review) must be radically different from what was presented by Sanral.

Sanral announced in February that all the highways they had improved, at a cost of R20 billion loan granted to them, would be tolled at 66 cent/km for private vehicles.



Source: citizen.co.za