Johannesburg - E-tolls are here to stay and people will be forced to get e-tags - although tariffs will be lowered.
This is according to radio station Power FM, which reported on Friday morning morning that it has seen parts of Gauteng premier David Makhura’s e-toll report.
The report was handed to Makhura at the end of 2014 after he appointed a panel to oversee hearings on the socio-economic impact of e-tolling.
Makhura has not yet made the report public, saying he needed to consult various parties before he did so.
The panel heard the input of hundreds of people over several months at the hearings. The majority of the presentations were overwhelmingly against the system.
Many expressed hope that the hearings and opposition to e-tolls by the provincial government would mean the scrapping of the system.
According to Power FM, the user-pays system for the roads in the province is here to stay, but there were various suggestions on alternatives of implementation with lower costing.
CARS COULD BE E-TAGGED BEFORE LEAVING SHOWROOM
The station also reports that a possible solution for the problems and resistance e-tolling has faced is to make the system compulsory to all motorists in Gauteng. One way was the possibility that cars could get tagged before they leave the showroom floor.
The station also said consultations with deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa and the panel were ongoing.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance chairman Wayne Duvenage said he had not seen the report and understood that only part of it had been seen, but if it was true that government would try to force everybody to have e-tags, they would simply face more resistance.
“A car might have an e-tag in it, but tags fail and you will find people removing them,” he said. “All it will do is cause the government to fight with their citizens and, with a local election coming up, I’m not sure that’s a good idea.”
Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven said that if the reports were true, the trade union federation would be very disappointed.
“We have always been opposed to the e-toll system and if there are simply small changes made in the way it operates, it will not appease us,” Craven said.
The Star