When Gauteng Premier David Makhura announced his plan to establish a panel to review the hotly contested e-tolls, little did he know that he would be dissuading potential investors from participating in the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) bond auction.
“Investor confidence was evidently impacted by the pronouncements of Makhura ahead of the July bond auction,” said a statement from Sanral.
According to Sanral, following Makhura’s statement, the organisation failed to reach its monthly target of bond auctions through which it raises capital to fund operations.
In order to be self-sufficient, Sanral needed between R500 m and R600 m. On 2 July 2014, the organisation is said to have raised only R275 m, falling short of a target of R465 m.
The development, unfortunate as it is, might have impressed organisations vehemently opposed to e-tolls in Gauteng like Outa and COSATU, which appeared to have succumbed to the thinking that the operations were there to stay.