Attorney Michael de Broglio on: South Africa, Law, Politics, Attorneys, Sport, Photography, Technology, Gadgets, Media, Crime, Road Accidents Fund,
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I don’t think there is any chance that the government is going to reverse on the e-toll decision. The roads have to be financed, and this is the way they have chosen to do it. That is perhaps the bigger mistake, because one would prefer them to have simply levied an amount on petrol, and collected the money more effectively that way, as they do with the Road Accident Fund, than having to build toll roads, awards contracts to foreign companies and spend a lot of money, estimated at 30% of whatever we pay, towards actually collecting the money.
A levy directly on petrol would have prevented that. It will also be very interesting to see what happens with the Road Accident Fund levies in years to come. We now contribute 88c per litre of petrol to the Road Accident Fund, and in most cases you get little or no benefits unless you are seriously injured. One can only imagine that in a few years’ time, once the Road Accident Fund has settled all the cases that arose before 1 August 2008 when the law changed, that the Road Accident Fund is going to be generating huge excesses each year and perhaps that money could be diverted towards approving the roads, or at the very least we could see the Road Accident Fund levy being reduced. I don’t believe we will ever see that, but that should be the case given that they have now eliminated probably 80% of claims compared to before 1 August 2008 and have continued to increase the levy.
Posted by Michael de Broglio on Tuesday 20-Mar-12
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Comments
Daniela said:
on Friday 23-Mar-12 03:53 PM
I agree with David and I think everyone feels we subsidize enough already. I can't say I won't buy an e-tag, I can't really make as big a fuss as I seldom use the highway, but still, for others (like Robyn) it as a very real concern.
thembi said:
on Friday 23-Mar-12 09:47 AM
I also agree that this is totally rediculous as I don't really think that they are going to be able to work out how much to charge each car for it's road usage when they aren't able to even get reading water meters rights?
Julz said:
on Friday 23-Mar-12 09:23 AM
Solution - find a place closer to work and stay home. Very few will be able to afford the additional R1500+ per month. There will surely be a way of controlling who pays and who doesn't. Taking into account petrol, toll fees, medical aid contributions, mobile usage, licencing, insurance, AND have a savings account or life insurance - what's left of our salaries? Then we're still stuck with rent, food, water & electricity, car payments..... Ridiculous.
Catherine said:
on Friday 23-Mar-12 09:01 AM
This an additional financial burden as if people are not financiallly stretched already.
Robyn said:
on Friday 23-Mar-12 07:35 AM
@Kaylene: Thanks for spelling Helen Zille's name right!!
Moving on, I will also not buy an e-tag. I live far from work as it is and we use the highway every single day to and from work, there's no way I will be able to afford it. No way.
Bernadette said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 05:42 PM
I agree with this is ridiculous. People have made a budget for the month and now they have to pay extra. You have to redo the whole budget so that it will now cover the cost and not everyone earns a lot.
Thabitha said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 03:40 PM
I agree with you, I also don't think goverment will reverse the e-toll decision. The travelling cost is getting higher and higher every now and again.
Kaylene said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:40 PM
This is ridiculous but they are determined to make it work, whether we like it or not. How I wish HELEN ZILLE could be running JHB as well, she does in some cases first get opinions to see how the community works. In JHB everything gets implemented first, because we dont stand together. The Cape Town community's stand together thats why the governmnet includes them
Genevieve said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:36 PM
I think this is ridiculous. And then they wonder why the country is in the state it is in. The government keeps getting ritcher and the citizens poorer - how is that for balance? If only someone could stand up to them, and tell them that their systems are ridiculous. One is not compensated for all the money they expect us to pay.
elaine said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:35 PM
i agree with david 100% these are old road which we have paid for many many times over now we have to pay more to the raf as well and for what? we cant even claim but we have to pay! people take everything lying down in this country,over seas like in portugal they brought the country to it's knees
Annette said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:35 PM
I agree, this is ridiculous. I will not buy an e-tag. I would rather use an alternative road. I spend more than enough a month on petrol to still pay extra for toll fees.
Lizanne said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:34 PM
I will also not buy an e-tag. This is really ridiculous and i also agree with Dune about Helen Ziller getting an opinion from the community. They should have given us a variety of options to choose from instead of just doing something and expect the people to pay for it. How many people is actually going to buy an e-tag.
Angelique said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:33 PM
Will we even have petrol money for work lol? Really I think I need to gym more and start walking to and from work. I think its because 40 odd million was taken from their pension money to build the new roads therefore without a doubt they will implement this! We working for our government every single little bit of our money goes to them! Please can we be paid under the table? (that was a joke)
Bianca said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 02:30 PM
The e-tolls are absolutely insane but honestly what can you do if you have to travel these roads? You either avoid them or pay the fees. This is just one of those things that you are forced to accept.
Dune said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 01:37 PM
This is definitely ridiculous, i agree with Liesl. I have listened to Helen Ziller on 5fm the other afternoon, and at least she gets an opinion from the community in Cape Town before making changes, for example she gave the community an option with Chapmans peak, either to close it down or to put a toll gate, as it is a very expensive road to maintain.
Liesl said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 01:18 PM
This is rediculous. Again hard earned money they don't mind spending wrecklessly.
david said:
on Tuesday 20-Mar-12 01:11 PM
i will not buy an e-tag. i pay license fees on the vehicles i own... 'they' can as many pics of the backs of my vehicles as they like (i do not use a number plate) i will not pay for normal old highways to become toll roads. i am already paying my share in the running of this country.
Johannesburg based attorney specializing in personal injury matters including Road Accident Fund claims and medical negligence matters. My interests include golf, reading and the internet and the way it is constantly developing. I have a passion for life and a desire for less stress!
