Motorists in South Africa already pay for road maintenance, but they are increasingly being forced to pay more as the number of toll roads across the country continues to grow.
The increase in toll roads is the result of provincial governments pushing more of the nation’s road networks towards the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) for maintenance.
South Africa’s provinces and municipalities are characterised by high levels of mismanagement, corruption, and inadequate revenue collection.
Consequently, most of them are in a poor financial position to invest in maintaining or upgrading the sections of South Africa’s transport network that they are responsible for.
Instead, they are offloading the responsibility onto SANRAL.
According to Transport Minister Barbara Creecy, more than 13,000km of provincial roads have been handed to SANRAL since 2013.
The minister warned that this is unsustainable and could lead to more widespread tolling under SANRAL’s current operating model.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s (OUTA) executive manager, Julius Kleynhans, slammed this notion, arguing that it is effectively a double tax on road users.
This is because motorists already pay multiple taxes and levies baked into the retail price of petrol and diesel, which are supposed to generate revenue for road maintenance and upgrades.
“It is double taxation because provincial roads have deteriorated as a result of a failure of provincial governments to use their resources properly,” Kleynhans told Newzroom Afrika.
“You need to understand where the money has come from. It is from taxes on the taxpayer, fuel levies, licence fees, and existing tolls.”
The single largest tax motorists pay at the pumps is the General Fuel Levy (GFL), which is paid on every litre of petrol and diesel sold in South Africa.
The GFL is a general tax intended to fund road maintenance. However, the money is not ringfenced and flows directly into the National Revenue Fund.
As a result, the GFL is a lucrative revenue stream for the government to spend as it sees fit, though it is increasingly used to make up for the state’s deteriorating finances.
Over the last 10 years, motorists have paid over R750 billion in tax under the GFL, with a declining share of it being spent on road repairs.
Government failures are a triple tax on motorists
Kleynhans went a step further, arguing that the money motorists are forced to hand over via petrol taxes and toll roads are not the only outcomes of government mismanagement.
He argued that motorists are also paying more to maintain their vehicles as a result of the country’s collapsing infrastructure.
This ranges from basic maintenance, like replacing tyres and rims damaged by potholes, to more severe damage to components like the suspension and driveshaft.
This also has the indirect effect of forcing motorists to purchase more expensive vehicles that can take the punishment of driving on our roads.
“It is evident in most communities as you drive off the national highways that the road infrastructure is not up to scratch,” Kleynhans said.
Furthermore, South Africa’s roads are deteriorating even faster than usual due to the increased number of heavy freight trucks caused by the collapse of our rail network.
South Africa’s roads were not designed for such a purpose, and they require additional maintenance to repair the damage caused by heavy trucks.
“Due to the lack of proper freight infrastructure and a deterioration in alternative transport methods, this has become a severe issue,” Kleynhans said.
“Just the trucking has had such a negative impact on our smaller communities and less-used roads that are just not maintained.”
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