Despite the announcement by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) that it would go live in February with the toll system on the around 200 km of road rehabilitated under the first phase of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, the Department of Transport (DoT) on Tuesday called for still wider consultation before motorists are charged for using the roads.

“We are saying that given the continued and overwhelming interest in the first phase of the project – and despite the discount already put on the table by Cabinet – we need to convene additional consultative processes,” said chief director stakeholder engagement in the Transport Minister’s office, Tiyani Rikotso.

Following a first round of consultation earlier this year, and significant public resistance to the GFIP project, Cabinet in August announced discounts for the toll fee structure as put forward by Sanral in February.

“Clearly people have proposals to make on alternative means to fund the roads, as opposed to tolling. So yes, Sanral has put in place a deadline, but we also want to be guided by the consultation process,” Rikotso told Engineering News Online. “You never know what may flow from this. Certain proposals make sense to us, such as people suggesting offloading a part of the costs on the fuel levy.”

The Gauteng government is set to have its round of consultation on November 11, with the DoT to follow at the end of November, noted Rikotso.

“We understand Sanral has put down a deadline, but let us allow people to express their views.”

He added that the suspension of future toll road projects, as announced earlier by Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele, remained.

The suspension included GFIP Phase 2, as well as the Cape Winelands – for which a preferred bidder had already been announced – and Wild Coast roads.

Cabinet in August approved the GFIP toll tariffs as 24c/km for motorcycles, 40c/km for cars, R1/km for medium trucks and R2/km for heavy trucks.

Qualifying taxis and buses are to be exempted from paying toll fees.

These rates are all based on a vehicle sporting an etag on its windscreen, and do not include other discounts, such as frequent user and off-peak discounts.