MOTORING NEWS - Threat to Sanral: South Africa's Auditor-general, Kimi Makwetu, said the e-tolls debacle presents a material uncertainty about Sanral's ability to continue as a going concern.
Debt related to noncompliance with Gauteng's electronic tolling (e-tolling) system has risen to R3,61bn and continues to weigh on the finances of the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), which also failed to comply with expenditure guidelines, according to Makwetu.
The roads agency's 2016/17 annual report tabled in parliament shows that pressure is mounting on Sanral to make good on collections of the tolls owed by Gauteng's more than 3-million motorists.
To get this done, Sanral has been flooding defaulting motorists with SMS requests, asking them to settle their e-toll debt, the annual report shows.
The entity's cash requirements for the next 12 months relied on toll operations and it also raised funding through bond auctions, but there had been waning demand because of the e-toll uncertainties.
"Irregular expenditure of R424,9-million was incurred due to non-compliance with prescribed procurement processes. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure to the amount of R15-million was incurred, due to additional costs incurred on a project that was cancelled as the approval process for the project had not been followed," said Makwetu.
"As disclosed in the financial statements, material impairment of R3,75-billion was recognised as a result of a decrease in estimated future cash flows related to trade and other receivables. A total of R3,61-billion of this relates to the impairment of e-toll debtors."
CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma said Sanral had been downgraded by credit ratings agency Moody's Investors Service from Baa3 to Ba1 as a result of SA's overall sovereign credit risks as well as continued opposition to open road tolling.
To tackle uncertainty created by civil-society groups' opposition to e-tolling, Macozoma said in his director's report that Sanral had reached agreement to undergo a test case with the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) to assess the enforceability of the tolls.
VW has a go at competitors
Two years of hiding after its emissions scandal seem to have given the Wolfsburg-based company a desire to criticise other brands.
Recently its CEO, Matthias Mueller, attacked Tesla in one short burst that took less than a minute, but now the guns aim at a closer competitor.
Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz normally have nothing to do with each other since officially one is a premium brand and the other, a mainstream one.
Recent developments have shown Mercedes-Benz benchmarking its new A-Class against a new VW Golf, while the Golf R more than held its own against an AMG A45 in an acceleration test.
However, Volkswagen's latest volley at another car manufacturer is aimed at the Mercedes-Benz X-Class pickup truck.
Mercedes-Benz claims its product is the first premium pickup truck, which Volkswagen seems to find ridiculous.
Talking to Australian publication Motoring, Paul Pottinger, the Volkswagen head of communications for Australia, had a few harsh words for the X-Class.
"It's very difficult to disguise a Nissan Navara," he said. "If I was a buyer I might be surprised. When a Mercedes-Benz owner opens the door and sees Nissan hinges, the game might be up."
With prices going well over those of the Navara, one does have to wonder if paying for a badge and a slight bump in interior quality really makes sense for a truck.
Volkswagen has been late to the pickup truck market with the Amarok, compared to Toyota, Nissan, Ford and Mitsubishi, but it's made a convincing effort.
The company chose to develop the utility vehicle itself instead of striking a partnership as Mercedes-Benz did.
More Takata airbag recalls
Citing preventative measures, Mitsubishi Motors Japan has issued a recall campaign on specific Pajeros sold between 2007 and 2013 in South Africa for the replacement of the passenger-side airbag inflators.
Vehicles made by more than 30 manufacturers globally are involved with a worldwide recall of over 30-million vehicles to date.
Mitsubishi Motors South Africa (MMSA) announced on Friday 5 November that the airbag recall campaign for Pajero has now been extended to include the front passenger airbag.
These vehicles are fully imported from Japan and have all been equipped with airbags made by Takata.
The purpose of the recall campaign is to replace the passenger-side airbag inflators on certain identified LWB and SWB Pajero models manufactured and sold from 2007 to 2013.
This potential defect is possibly due to the airbag inflator being subjected to constant changing of temperatures and high humidity conditions for lengthy periods.
MMSA have started contacting owners of affected vehicles to schedule and arrange the free-of-charge passenger airbag inflator replacement of their Pajeros. The replacement procedure will take approximately two hours.
An online VIN-checker with a FAQ-section is available on the company's website (www.mitsubishi-motors.co.za/recall) for Pajero owners who want to check if their vehicles could be affected.
ARTICLE: ANICA KRÜGER, GEORGE HERALD JOURNALIST | AUTODEALER EDITOR
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