e-tolls

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) has welcomed the South African Roads Agency Limited’s (SANRAL) decision to make a submission to the Gauteng e-tolls review panel.

In a press statement, SANRAL spokesperson, John Clarke, points out that, “While very late in the panel's process, the about turn is most welcome and we look forward to hearing SANRAL’s response to the numerous questions and concerns that have emerged.”

The Opposition To Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) is shocked at the gross exaggeration and disingenuous nature of transport minister, Dipuo Peter’s statement on e-tolls.

In a press statement, OUTA points out that, “It must be implied that Minister Peters is referring to the amount required to fund the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).”

Peter’s told the Gauteng E-Toll Advisory Panel that a further R3.65 needs to be added to the fuel levy if it was to be used to fund road infrastructure needs.

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) says that failure to repay the multi-billion-rand debt used for the e-tolling system will affect future investments.

SANRAL, together with the Transport Department made submissions to the e-tolling review panel in Pretoria on 5 November 2014.

Meanwhile, the socio-economic impact of e-tolls on Gauteng freeways came under scrutiny when the e-toll advisory panel grilled the department.

Protesters burnt their unpaid e-toll bills on top of an empty coffin while singing the national anthem outside the South African National Roads Agency Limited’s (SANRAL) offices in Pretoria on Saturday, 18 October 2014.
 
The Congress of South African Trade Union (COSATU), in reference to the electronic tolling system, says that, "Today we bury a stillborn that was born in December last year, and before December this year, we will cremate him."
 

Very few people in the African National Congress support the tolling of Gauteng's highways, according to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU).

COSATU’s Gauteng secretary, Dumisani Dakile, points out that, "This thing it has never been placed in any gathering of the ANC [African National Congress]."

The Oppostion to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) believes the questionable execution of e-tolling in Gauteng had paved its road to failure.

Speaking at an advisory panel on e-tolls which looks at the systems socioeconomic impact, OUTA chairperson Wayne Duvenage was demonstrating reasons for the failure of the system.

Duvenage, states that, “We are wasting everyday peoples’ money… we need to switch the system off.”

The Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) supports the call for a fuel-levy to help pay for Gauteng’s controversial e-tolling system.
 
The JPSA along with the majority of interested parties who have already made their submissions to the Gauteng e-toll review panel sitting, set up by Gauteng premier David Makhura, argue that the multi-billion rand project must be scrapped.
 

The Road Safety Campaign states that Gauteng road users do not need discounts and tariff reductions on e-toll fees because they never asked for tolls.
 
During public hearings on the impact of e-tolls, the Road Safety Campaign chairperson, Ali Gule, affirms that he does not think that people in Gauteng have asked for lucky packets and discounts, for something which they did not want.
 
The hearings intend to examine the economic and social impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the electronic tolling system set up to fund it.
 

The Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has warned that the controversial Gauteng e-tolling system will perpetuate exclusion in society.
 
Speaking to the advisory panel on the socio-economic impact of e-tolls, COSATU’s Dumisani Dakile described e-tolling as one of the most immoral projects undertaken since the arms deal.
 
“This matter touches on the core of governance. This matter touches on the core of leadership,” explained to the advisory panel on the socio-economic impact of e-tolls in Johannesburg.
 

The Right2Know (R2K) says it has filed an urgent application to open up the court record on tolling in the Western Cape which South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) wants kept closed.

R2K spokesperson, Alison Tilley, told the Cape Town Press Club that the organisation wants to make documents public that had been filed from the moment the city of Cape Town took SANRAL to court over the N1/N2 Winelands Toll Highway Project.