SANRAL award for e-tolling is pathetic attempt to gain legitimacy 

Yesterday, South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) announced that it was awarded the 2013 Toll Excellence Award by the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association (IBTTA).

However, they failed to mention several key points:

• That this award can only be granted to members of IBTTA, and that annual membership is up to R110 000 ($11,580). This is money which must have been paid with public funds.
• That IBTTA is a small group of toll-road endorsing companies, which openly encourage the building of toll-roads. Their whole point of existence is to praise toll roads, not to help find alternative solutions which help poor people.
• That SANRAL nominated themselves, after joining and using public money to become members, in order to try and legitimate their building of e-tolls in South Africa.

For this then to be used as support for the building of toll roads, is just plain ludicrous. It is nothing more than a pathetic attempt to try and find good reasons for toll-roads in South Africa when none exist.

If anything, it has completely backfired on SANRAL - because receiving an award for e-tolling from a group whose major aim is to promote e-tolls is laughable at best.

The DA will be submitting parliamentary questions to the Minister of Transport, Ben Martins, who needs to account to parliament as to:

• How many memberships to bodies and associations his Department, and entities reporting to it, are subscribed to;
• How memberships to each has been decided upon;
• What the cost for each membership amounts to; and
• What the benefits to each membership entails.

SANRAL's IBTTA membership does not appear to serve any public interest. All IBTTA offers are discounts to workshops and exhibitions, as well as access to a monthly letter from the Executive Director and a biannually published journal. IBTTA also provides positive PR support to countries struggling to gain public support for tolls. Part of IBTTA's 2013 goals includes providing its members with support to:

• Strengthen the powerful and positive messaging about tolling;
• Enhance outreach to key policymakers and work with industry allies to advance public policies that support tolling;
• Create a political environment favourable to tolling and expand business opportunities for firms that serve tolling.

It is in this light that the ‘2013 Toll Excellence Award' must be viewed - as a means to dupe the public into thinking that toll roads are a good thing.

There is nothing good about government's plan to build toll roads. All they will do is undermine economic growth, hurt the poor, and ultimately result in job losses.

The best toll is no toll. 

Statement issued by Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, June 5 2013

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