Name and Location
Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), South Africa.

Client
The project is managed by State-owned company South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

Project Description
The GFIP is a long-term freeway upgrade and expansion project, which entails the upgrade and construction of about 561 km of freeways in Gauteng.

Value
The Department of Transport (DoT), through Sanral, has invested more than R21-billion in the first phase of the project.

Duration
Despite being delayed by a shortage of bitumen and adverse weather in 2011, Phase 1 of the project was substantially completed by the end of 2011.

Latest Developments
Sanral has reported that e-tolling on Gauteng roads will begin within the next two months.

The State-owned enterprise is waiting for the completion of the Parliamentary process.

As soon as the National Council of Provinces finalises the Transport and Related Matters Amendment Bill, the Bill will be referred to the National Assembly for adoption.

The Bill legalises e-tolling of the GFIP and has been approved in the National Assembly.

Once this has been completed Transport Minister Ben Martins will announce the tariffs, followed by the necessary notice periods, which will take about two months to complete. Thereafter, e-tolling will start.

However, Democratic Alliance (DA) MPL Jack Bloom has said that even at this late stage government should reconsider its decision, as mounting public resistance could make e-tolling unworkable.

Bloom says Gauteng has four-million registered vehicles and that Sanral's claim that 600 000 vehicles have been registered for e-tags mostly includes government vehicles rather than citizens' vehicles.

"Sanral faces an uphill battle in getting public acceptance. There may well be further delays in the e-tolls as the DA will insist on public hearings in the Gauteng legislature on the Transport and Related Matters Amendment Bill," says Bloom.

In April last year, the Pretoria High Court  granted the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) an interdict, approving a full judicial review before e-tolling could be put into effect.

The interdict prevented Sanral from levying or collecting e-tolls pending the outcome of a review. Sanral and the National Treasury appealed the court order.

In September, the Constitutional Court set aside the interim order.

In December, an application by Outa to scrap e-tolling was dismissed by the Pretoria High Court.

The court granted Outa leave on January 25 to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA), in Bloemfontein. The SCA hearing will take place in September.

However, Sanral has advised motorists not to wait for the outcome of the appeal before registering for their e-tags.

"That appeal has nothing to do with whether e-tolling should go ahead or not," he said.

"That question was settled by the Constitutional Court last year when it set aside the interdict that prevented Sanral from implementing e-tolling."

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Basil Read Interchange [I/C] (improvements on the N1 section); Siyavaya joint venture (JV), comprising Group 5, Power Construction, Liviero, Umso Construction and Bophelong Construction (work package A and E); GFI Contractors JV, comprising Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon (WBHO), Sanyati Construction, Rainbow Construction, Glash Construction, Munasi Civil Contractors and Esorfranki Civils, formerly Patula Construction (work package B); GLMB JV, comprising Grinaker-LTA, a member of the Aveng group, Moseme Road Construction and Boitshoko Road Surfacing (work package C and F); Basil Read JV, comprising Roadcrete, Chavani Construction and Dipcivil, or BRCD (work package D); CMC JV, comprising CMC di Ravenna South Africa and G4 Civils (work package G); Raubex Construction (upgrade of the R21); Power Group (upgrade of the R21 section 1 and 2); Tosas (subcontractor – bituminous binders); ETC JV (multilane free-flow tolling system); Jet Demolition (demolition of Allandale I/C bridge); ARQ Consulting Engineers (design of the Lynnwood Glen pedestrian and pipe bridge); Cadcon, subcontractor of BRCD JV (manufacture of the Lynnwood Glen pedestrian and pipe bridge); Beka (luminaires); Esorfranki Civils (work package J); Goba SSI JV (Gillooly's flyover); Much Asphalt, a Murray & Roberts company (asphalt supplier) and ETC JV, comprising Traffic Management Technologies and Kapsch TrafficCom (design and operate the open-road tolling system).

On Budget and on Time?
E-tolling was suspended on April 28, 2012, pending a full review; however, the Constitutional Court has set aside the interdict preventing Sanral from tolling some of Gauteng’s highways, while the proposed e-tolling system is undergoing judicial review in the North Gauteng High Court, in Pretoria.

Contact Details for Project Information
Sanral northern region manager of toll and traffic and project manager Alex van Niekerk, tel +27 11 426 6200; or corporate communications manager Priya Pillay, tel +27 12 844 8000, fax +27 12 844 8200 or email pressoffice@nra.co.za; or project manager: communications Wanda Cloete, tel +27 12 844 8000, fax +27 12 844 8200 or email wcloete@nra.co.za.