Traffic jams cost business a pretty penny

"This estimate does not include fuel and vehicle maintenance costs, the cost of late freight deliveries, or other associated transport and business opportunity costs," Sacci said in a statement on Thursday.

"It also does not include costs related to accidents and collisions," it said.

Sacci believe that the cause of congestions lies in poor maintenance of infrastructure which leads to potholes, as well as street markings being missing, broken traffic lights and delays in how accidents are dealt with.

"These conditions are exacerbated by the extensive rojects on motorways, which promise improvements in the future, but at present constitute a cost to the business community," it said.

"Coupled with poor driving habits, these conditions also result in unnecessary collisions that compound the congestion."

Sacci based its estimates on 90 000 cars that travel between Pretoria and Johannesburg during 6:30am and 8:30am daily, during the week - the calculation further assumed that every vehicle had one person in it on average and their incomes were around R170 an hour.

"Costs such as these impede South Africa's already hesitant recovery from the global economic crisis," it said.

"They constitute a hidden, but significant negative impact on small and medium size enterprises in particular, and add to the cost of doing business."

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