This eToll saga is so tired now, and is coming to a head. It’s a bit like two hours of foreplay, and then failing to fire. Or so I’ve heard. Here is the question: How will the etolls affect the value of your business, and how will you as chief executive manage the process? Your choices:
- Register with an etag, pay in advance by way of trusting SANRAL with a debit order instruction of your account, and enjoy all the discounts
- Register, but wait for the invoices (or as it turns out; the final demands without an invoice – hello SARS?)
- Don’t register, wait for the invoices, question each one, obfuscate the whole process and eventually wait for something to snap – you or SANRAL.
Oh wait… Nobody seems to know how many have done what. Final demands were sent out within 20 days or less. Very emotive and scary words have been used. If it wasn’t so important it would be boring.
My car recently broke down outside Warden. While discussing the options for towing with the mechanic, I was struck by the repetitive nature of his various quotes; each punctuated with “plus the tolls”. Now that is obviously something that has become 2nd nature to him, being on the N3, in much the same way as “plus VAT” became a refrain about twenty years ago when we changed from general sales tax to VAT.
At the same time Bruce Whitfield seemed to think he’d get a reaction from industry when asking CEOs of large corporations if they intended to register for eTolls on the eve of their implementation. The result was was a “yes” from all those I heard. They cited their corporate responsibility to their shareholders in maximising profits by being able to enjoy the discounts on offer for easy compliance.
We should have no doubt that the cost will be passed down the line to the consumer, as is every other tax of this sort. “The cost is so much, plus the tolls”. I have no doubt that consumers will all quietly accept the added cent or two on sugar, milk, bread, caviar etc.
We small business people are a little different. Many of us stick to a principle, and we can afford to because most of us are the shareholders and the directors of our own companies. So back to the original question: How much will the imposition of eTolls affect your business value? As I see it (and this is a thinking in progress here), there are two considerations:
- The day to day overhead of your business which translates into an annual profit, which has a direct bearing on the value.
- More of a macro element; how sellable is a business with a large contingent liability hanging over it, and how will business buyers use this to dodge the asking price?
Let’s deal with the latter first. Recently I was asked to sell a business by a long standing friend and client who happens to run a reasonably sized fleet of vehicles, which have no option but to use the N1, N3, R21 system. He has been on the radio several times about the problems he has with etolls, and every time he sees me he bends my ear some more. He WILL NOT pay the tolls until he receives a bill in the proper manner, and is then summonsed, and the rest of the disaster. He just will not. That is in his personal capacity. But he is selling his business, and hopes to close a deal by Easter. So the question is, how does he go about balancing his moral imperatives with his selling requirements?
His solution is to stick to his guns with his personal vehicle which is registered outside the company, but to reluctantly register and tag each of the company vehicles. That way he will have no come backs in the sale, and he feels he is personally not dodging his principles.
On the first point: Value of a business is based mostly on the profit it produces. If you are going to allow the business to make less profit by playing the OUTA game, then you should accept that the value of your business for now, will be less than it would otherwise have been.
We should all expect that for the immediate future, until a solution is negotiated to this impasse, and that for the canny buyer it will be a negotiating blunt instrument to beat the seller over the head with.
For the record
I have not registered with SANRAL, and I make contributions to the OUTA coffers to help fight this thing. But then I have no intention of selling my business.
We are a small business and have a couple of pool cars. I will not register my cars and will require a proper tax invoice and documentation before I will pay. Then only if the vehicle tracking matches the gantry info. I am sure that there will be tens of thousands of ghost plates using the toll roads.
A further point of interest is that I have kept myself well informed over the years on the planned road infrastructure development in and around Midrand. Years ago the planning scenario was to implement the PWV9 and the PWV5 rather than upgrade the Ben Schoeman and that these routes would be tolled and become the primary infrastructure between JHB and Pretoria and also east west link, with the Ben Schoeman and other roads becoming the secondary untolled alternative routes which were apparently required by law. This has clearly not happened and the Ben Schoeman is already at capacity.
Well done on this Mark. I agree with you.
The fact is that this Government will not be held accounted by their electorate for many, many years to come. This is the unfortunate reality. Neither will any political party create jobs or create a future for our children to take the country forward.
Unfortunately, as far as the big corporates are concerned, they are only looking at the business side for now. When doing business in SA is not lucrative any more, they will close down branches here and open branches in countries which are more successful and better run than SA. On the other hand, business owners and company owners that wants a future in this country has some leverage to claim accountability from our Civil Service. Unfortunately it comes at a cost to ourselves and our businesses, but we have to ask ourselves what is right, as opposed to what is in it for me, or my business.
If we want to do what is right for our staff and their communities, it includes forcing down accountability onto the Civil Service. We have the means to do it, but do we have the will? I see it as an investment into the future.
received a letter from Violations Processing Centre, own them R66.51 for using their roads without an e-tag.
No invoice ,for which car, could have been for the car that was sold back to LR.
Just a letter of violation. nothing constructive.
Never ending saga.
I agree that businesses should pay eToll, I also feel that everybody should pay their dues to eToll – pay the minimum possible by registering.
The roads have to be paid for, no point arguing that they should have already been paid for from the miss appropriated taxes we have already paid.
HOWEVER — I am totally against the eToll system, BUT think the issue we should be fighting is the corruption that I am convinced exists behind the eToll introduction, installation of the Gantries & the charging & collection.
We should all be contributing to a ‘trust’ which is tasked with finding & employing a brave person/journalist prepared to investigate & expose the individuals, corruption & over seas accounts. Yours sincerely – THE FRUSTRATED PATRIOT!!!
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Hi Mark,
I feel sorry for you Gautenger’s having e tolling forced on you by an unsympathetic government.
What is the news for the Cape? I hear that we are to get e tolling on our existing roads with out a big investment on new or upgraded road building.
Thanks,
Mike
Mark,
Can you put me in touch with him and anyone else who has a large commercial interest in finding legal ways around the tolls. I’d like to develop some legal tools that everyone can use to oppose the system. I just need a few large clients to justify doing all the work.
Advocate Douglas J Shaw
advocate@douglasjshaw.co.za