Business Unity South Africa (Busa) said on Wednesday that questions around the economic and business implications of Gauteng’s toll roads have still not been answered.

Busa had submitted questions to Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin and the South African Road Agency Limited on July 13, but said it was still waiting for adequate answers.

Some questions included the construction costs of all the phases of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), electronic toll collection costs, general assumptions for off-peak periods and frequent users and possible compliance risk assumptions.

Busa said that the implementation and impact of the seven-day payment period would inflict administrative and cash flow difficulties that would impact on business in particular.

In addition, an e-toll would cause traffic diversion onto secondary roads already faced with maintenance challenges. The congestion could also lead to further road accidents.

The organisation believed that a large part of road maintenance and construction needed to be funded by a ring-fenced fuel levy, rather than the ‘user-pay’ method.