The association has accused the government of not maintaining non-tolled routes in a bid to increase traffic on tolled routes.
The association said road funding inadequacies at municipal and provincial levels had led to the decay of the roads, with many roads being in such poor condition that they were dangerous to use.
“A change of policy is needed, but it appears to suit government’s tolling-focused agenda to leave the second- and third-tier roads to decay in order to increase traffic on tolled routes,” the association said.
The association claimed that in 2010 it wrote to the then-Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, to raise concern that municipalities were spending money intended for roads maintenance on elsewhere.
In response, Gordhan said although municipalities had been advised to use these funds for roads where possible, they could not be compelled to do so.
However, the association argued that all roads had an economic benefit and should be well maintained and safe to use.
“The poor road conditions in many parts of the country work against this and we hold the view that major arterials – whether tolled or not – do not provide economic growth in isolation – it is an area’s road network as a whole which delivers the benefit.”
According to the association, the general state of South Africa’s roads was below standard.
“The country could not continue to pamper a minority of tolled arterials while under-funded provincial and urban feeder routes were exposed to accelerated deterioration and increased crash risk as a result of traffic trying to avoid tolls.”
“We need to move beyond tolling and develop more cost-effective ways to maximise the economic potential of roads and ensure safe road travel across the Republic,” the association said.
On 17 November, taxi operators affiliated with the United Taxi Associations Front marched to the office of MEC for Transport Ismail Vadi calling for the scrapping of e-tolls.
According to the taxi association, despite being promised exemption from e-tolls, they continued to receive bills and summonses for outstanding payments.
The taxi association’s spokesperson Jabulani Nkosi said although taxi drivers, like many other motorists, had resorted to using non-tolled routes to avoid being charged for e-tolls, they were being prevented from doing so and faced constant “harassment” from Metro police.
Adding to taxi operator’s woes is that e-tolls are unavoidable on some taxi routes, he said.
