GAYE DAVIS
Government spending on roads and public transport far outweighs revenue earned through the fuel levy, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan has said.
Speaking on the eve of countrywide protests against e-tolling, Gordhan said the fuel levy brought in R42.8 billion a year.
Of this, R9bn was given to metros to compensate for the abolition of the regional services levy.
Expenditure on roads, rail and bus subsidies amounted to R61.4bn Of this, R15bn went to the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), R12.6bn to the provinces and R13.8bn to municipalities, while R20bn was allocated to rail and bus subsidies.
“So a lot more is spent on roads and transport generally than is collected in the fuel levy,” Gordhan said, responding to debate on his Budget in Parliament yesterday.
Opposition MPs raised concerns about state-imposed increases – petrol and diesel prices will rise by 28 cents a litre on April 4, when the fuel levy goes up by 20c, and the Road Accident Fund levy will rise by 8c. The levy on electricity will go up by 1c/kWh on July 1. Parties were also critical of e-tolling.