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Outa: E-toll system has truth decay

Cape Town - The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) is seething over a statement by South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) CEO Nazir Alli that the e-tolling system is performing well.

In an interview with John Robbie of Talk Radio 702 last Friday, Alli thanked “the over 1 million users of the roads who had registered”. He said that Sanral was now receiving “over R300m per month, exceeding our target of R200m” and was therefore “meeting our obligations”. 

Outa calls this statement "a fabrication and misleading, in that it the numbers make no sense". The action group said it has notified the public protector of an additional allegation of dishonesty against All.

Said Outa in a press release: "If indeed just over 1 million freeway users are compliant (driving with e-tags), out of a possible (approximately) 2.5 million, how is it possible that Mr Alli claims they have well exceeded their target of R200m by 50% to achieve revenues of over R300m?" 

Outa believes Alli's assumption that all invoices transferred from the Transaction Clearing House (TCH) to the Violations Processing Centre (VPC) are collectable - which is by far the greater portion of the revenue due - is false and that this money will in fact not add to the e-tolls system's cash flow, leaving it short. 

"There are also numerous discrepancies between the values and targets espoused recently by the Sanral CFO and the CEO," said Outa.

“Mr Alli obviously has an interest to push the fact that e-tags are in active use and not in various store rooms or shop shelves, by playing word games,” said Outa spokesperson John Clarke.

“While there may indeed be 1.2 million e-tags in ‘circulation’, our opinion is that fewer than 750 000 are in vehicles on the freeways. 

"Our research has been further corroborated by intelligence received from reliable sources which backs up our claims that as of end February, slightly under 30% of vehicles driving on the Gauteng freeways were fitted with e-tags.”

Outa has called for Sanral to "come clean and be absolutely transparent on the numbers", and asks for answers to the following questions: "(a) What is the exact number and percentage of vehicles on Gauteng freeways fitted with e-tags?;  (b) Of the total ‘revenues’ generated, what value and therefore what percentage of the total has been generated from e-tagged vehilces?; (c) What is the value of the total revenue transferred to the VPC and finally; (d) What percentage of the revenue in the VPC has been collected?"

In its position paper entitled E-tolling at an Impasse, which was released to the public last Thursday, Outa points out that if international examples are anything to go by, Sanral’s e-toll project for Gauteng’s freeways has been "a dismal failure and will not survive in the medium term". 

Said Outa: "The problem with the e-toll system is not ‘teething problems’ as Mr Alli says, but ‘truth decay’."

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