Another view on e-tolls

The growth in the number of Gauteng residents who are willing to pay for e-tolls shows that this remains a viable option to fund road infrastructure in South Africa’s economic heartland.

The findings of the Quality of Life Survey 2017/18 released by the Gauteng City-Region Observatory show that more than half of the respondents would be willing to pay for e-tolls.

This is 10% higher than the comparative figures in the survey conducted in 2016.

The bi-annual survey is done in a partnership between the Gauteng provincial government and the Universities of Johannesburg and the Witwatersrand. It polled the opinions of some 25 000 respondents across every municipal ward in the province.

On e-tolls the respondents were asked whether they agree with the statement “I will never pay my e-tolls.” Some 51% of the participants either “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with this statement. This is a discernible growth from the 40% who agreed when the question was asked in 2016.

Strong opposition to e-tolls also declined from 12% to 9% in the corresponding period.

Christina Culwick, the senior researcher at the Gauteng City Region Observatory, says that 43% of respondents in the lowest income brackets indicated that e-tolls are not an issue for them because they do not use the freeways. “This suggest that e-tolls are a relatively progressive payment option for the freeway upgrades.”

The survey also shows that issues related to spatial inequalities – unemployment, crime and access to opportunities – are uppermost in the minds of Gauteng residents.

OUTA, which opposes e-tolls and urges people not to pay, has dismissed the report, saying its credibility is in question. Culwick explained that the report reflected the answers to questions put to 25 000 respondents in Gauteng.