The Automobile Association of South Africa (AA) on Monday launched a petition against the implementation of a tolling system on 185 km of upgraded Gauteng freeways on June 23.

“We launched it at 13:00, with 800 people signing up so far,” says AA spokesperson Gary Ronald.

He says the AA aims to hand the petition to Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele at the ministerial road funding summit, to be held in March.

Instead of implementing a toll system, the AA calls for a dedicated, ring-fenced road construction and maintenance fund, sourced from the existing fuel taxes levied per litre of fuel sold, says Ronald.

He says some rudimentary maths have shown that the income from the current fuel tax could reach between R25-billion to R30-billion a year, which should cover the R20-billion construction costs of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).

“Yes, Gauteng is only one province, but it is the economic heartland of the country,” notes Ronald.

As an alternative, he suggests paying the R20-billion from the general budget.

It cannot be such a lot of money, he notes, considering that Minister Ndebele last week announced a new three-year, R22,3-billion programme, focused on the labour-intensive maintenance of the country’s secondary road infrastructure.

Ronald adds that the AA petition also calls for the public disclosure on the full costs of the GFIP from inception, the appointment process of the toll collection agency, and how the tax revenue from the sale of fuel for road use is currently being spent.

“We have written to government to request this information, but have not received an adequate reply, so we are putting it out in the public space now. We want to know exactly what the fuel taxes are, and where the heck it is going. If the answer is that it is going to the general fiscus, then the next point applies – it must be ring-fenced for road maintenance.”