My opinion (open letter) to SANRAL - an opinion gaining favour with Min. Robin Carlisle & Cllr. Brett Herron
The Western Cape vs. SANRAL
The proposed tolling of the N1 and N2 in the Winelands has raised the ire of most residents and local government entities in the province. The City of Cape Town and SANRAL seem set for another court showdown. Cllr. Brett Herron has demanded clarity from the national roads agency on the economic impacts, cost-implications and tolling locations from this seemingly, clandestine agency. This demand is not only fair; all citizens in this province should demand this information, as this project could have significant impacts on the economy and thus, the prosperity of affected areas in the Western Cape.
SANRAL has declared the N1 as a toll-road from Old Oak Interchange to Sandhills in the Hex River Valley and the N2 from the R300 Interchange to Bot River. Three tolls along each route are proposed. On the N1, these proposed toll plazas are at Joostenbergvlakte, the existing Huguenot Toll Plaza (where fees are proposed to be significantly raised) and Glen Heatlie between Worcester and De Doorns. On the N2, one plaza is proposed near Khayelitsha, one at Sir Lowry’s Pass and the other, at Bot River. Don’t think you’ll be able to get around the tolls, where viable alternative routes exists, like the R101 Du Toitskloof Pass, SANRAL will construct ramp-toll plazas on these exits.
They are planning some significant upgrades to the roads, so why is the Western Cape populace so angry? The anger in Gauteng over the controversial eTolls is still boiling over, yet SANRAL sees fit to set another pot to high-heat in our province. The Auditor General reports on countless billions being misspent per annum, yet SANRAL continues to plead poverty. Furthermore, the stark contrast in this province, where most roads are (Provincial Government - Western Cape) PGWC-maintained, from the fiscus. Our infrastructure is not in a dismal state, like our provincial cousins. The N1 and N2 westwards form the aforementioned points, where SANRAL jurisdiction ends, is in a better condition. In recent years these PGWC sections have seen resurfacing, highway lighting and the significant upgrading of numerous interchanges taking place. Significant upgrades to Wingfield Interchange and west coast arterial routes are to begin soon. Thus the resident logically asks, “Why can the PGWC maintain and upgrade our roads with our tax-money and you, SANRAL, cannot?”
Admittedly, there are bottlenecks in our infrastructure in these proposed tolled-areas: one being the N1 at the Huguenot Tunnel and two, the N2 through Somerset West and Strand. I am not against greenfields tolling. Thus, the Helderberg Bypass could be constructed without entrapping the Elgin Valley. The opening of the second Huguenot Tunnel (already bored – requires lining and equipping) is not up for debate. This sector is already user-pays and has been so since 1989; road improvements go without saying.
The economic impacts could be dire. SANRAL likes to commission studies that investigate the economic impact of the “do nothing” or “if they toll” scenarios. This creates a gross bias in the analysis. No roads agency or governmental entity is entitled to “do nothing” to the infrastructure as population, road-usage and therefore, revenue increases. Even under their potentially biased analysis, undertaken by UCT Graduate Business School, it is admitted that communities north-east of Paarl would see little cost-benefit in the short to medium-term, as traffic volumes are too light. Even under their analysis, agriculture could experience hardship, the lifeblood of these communities. Even under their analysis, the Hex River and Elgin Valleys would become entrapped to tolls, cut off from their service centre towns, major markets and neighbouring engines of economic growth. Even with this information, SANRAL has made no attempt to move toll plazas to locations that would not hold these communities hostage. They have admittedly, offered Hex River Valley residents the option of toll discounts.
Furthermore, rural tolling is an even crueler pursuit, as public-transit or non-motorised transit options simply don’t exist and probably never will.
Communities recently synonymous with civil unrest, Grabouw and De Doorns, will be the worst affected. Whatever the reason for the recent unrest, the obvious catalysts remain lack of employment and poor local economic conditions. With spiraling fuel and transport costs, additional tolling has only one outcome for these communities on an economic and social knife-edge. Communities like Rawsonville, Worcester and Caledon, already struggling to attract tourists and investment, seen as the over-the-mountain-poorer-cousins, will be isolated even further from the economic engine that is Cape Town.
Provincial roads will become overburdened. Communities that can escape toll plazas, will. The Western Cape’s provincial roads are in good condition and constantly undergoing improvements. Paarl and Franschhoek will use the R101; Stellenbosch the M12 and M23 to the R300; Wellington, the R44 and R312; Somerset West the R102; Ceres, Wolseley and even Touws River, the R46; Kleinmond and Hermanus, probably the R44. Worst of all, some of the poorest communities will be left with no viable alternative. Province will be burdened further, with residents attempting to escape the national policy of tolling by utilising their free-to-use infrastructure, thereby stretching their resources.
I call on national government and SANRAL to abandon this skewed policy and this lunacy. It is clear from SANRAL’s public participation process, where they do the bare legal minimum to consult with communities, that they’re fully aware of the intense public opposition to their user-pays policy. Public participation is kept as quiet and as narrow as possible. We already pay. It’s called fuel-levies. Ring-fence the levy, make them provincially imposed according to local need. It’s the cheapest and most equitable form of roads funding there is, with the least risk of graft or corruption.
If all else fails and your impoverished agency cannot maintain the roads, do the admirable thing and give it to the Provincial Government of the Western Cape. Cede control of all your roads west of Bloukrans River and Three Sisters. Allow the national treasury to grant province that equitable share of your allocated budget for these road-sectors. Clearly, our local administration can handle the infrastructure under their jurisdiction using the fiscus. You clearly, cannot.