The South African public have been grossly overcharged for the Gauteng Freeway upgrade from 2008 to 2011 by an average of 321 per cent, according to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa).
Outa released a 26-page research paper on the high costs of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) during a press conference held at Ferndale on 22 February.
This research paper found eleven case studies from around the world to benchmark and compare South African National Road Agency Limited’s (Sanral) GFIP costs.
The case studies allegedly contain extensive road construction cost input and analysis totalling several hundred projects around the world.
Outa chairperson, Wayne Duvenage, explained that Sanral remarked there were no benchmark or comparisons of the GFIP project to the road construction pricing around the world.
“That might be true in the strictest sense of the interpretation as we imagine there is no strict price list or benchmark for any industry on a world-wide basis,” said Duvenage.
He further explained that Outa maintained that there were a number of international benchmark case studies from which Sanral could have gathered a good understanding of where they rank in the space of road construction.
“If they did so, as we have done in our research, they would find that the prices they are paying for road construction in South Africa, if GFIP is anything to go by, is grossly overstated,” he continued.
Outa also called for the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, among others, to cancel the e-toll scheme in Gauteng, abandon plans to toll the Western Cape freeway and to investigate all toll roads and major construction projects undertaken by Sanral.
The research paper is available on the organisation’s website.
Sanral insisted that it could not comment on the specific quotes made by Outa until they have seen and studied the report. It confirmed that legal and quantification process to determine the damages it suffered was well underway following allegations made by Outa. “We have commissioned our own process of quantifying the damages we suffered and would not place reliance on the Outa figures because we do not know how they were arrived at,” explained Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona.
Details: Oruta, 082 884 6652; South African National Road Agency, pressoffice@nra.co.za.
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