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Parliament’s Standing Committee on Finance was unable to uncover significant detail on the fiscal implications of the halt in Gauteng's e-tolling project because today’s meeting was ended shortly after National Treasury began answering questions put to them by Members of Parliament (MPs).

Upon ending the meeting the Chair of the Committee called for written questions on e-tolling that will be answered by National Treasury within one and a half weeks. The Democratic Alliance (DA) will be submitting all of our unanswered questions to the Chair, but it is a great pity that the committee was not allowed the time to complete its oversight work on an issue that is clearly in the public interest.

Before the end of the meeting National Treasury had time to confirm that the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) has R37,9bn worth of debt and that R21,4bn of this, or 56%, is guaranteed by government. The halt in the e-tolling project raises serious concerns about SANRAL’s ability to repay this debt, but the Treasury Director-General (DG) today confirmed that SANRAL would not be allowed to liquidate and that National Treasury would meet their debt obligations for at least six months.

The DG also outlined the negative effect of recent ratings downgrades on SANRAL’s borrowing costs. But, while we urgently need more clarity on the fiscal implications of the current impasse, it seems clear that National Treasury cannot afford to continue the legal fight to impose e-tolling. They must make public the amount required to end – or fundamentally amend – the e-tolling contracts and urgently put alternative funding models on the table to minimise the negative effect on the fiscus and the cost to taxpayers.

I will therefore be writing to the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Finance, Thaba Mufamadi, requesting him to schedule a meeting on the e-tolls debacle with the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan.

The Minister must explain the fiscal consequences of the halt on the e-toll project and outline alternative options that will minimise the cost to the taxpayer.