Transport portfolio chairwoman Ruth Bhengu has gone back to the Department of Transport to find out what process it followed on the controversial e-toll legislation.
The legislation was pushed through before the public had enough time to comment.
Bhengu said she was going to report back to the committee.
Earlier this week, an amended transport bill was tabled before Parliament, which states that the paying of tolls does not have to comply with the National Credit Act, and the SA National Roads Agency was handing over the collection of tolls by those crossing borders to the Cross-border Road Transport Agency.
Critics have been upset because this bill was tabled in Parliament in 2008 under a different name. Since then many changes have been effected, but no public comment on these changes was called for.
The other two notices came through Parliament in March and April this year. The first allowed the appointment of peace officers who could stop cars, demand driving licences and e-tags, and stop motorists from travelling on the road if their tolls have not been paid.
The second dealt with e-toll tariffs, where the tariff was double if people do not obtain an e-tag, and tariffs could be as much as six times more than the discounted rate for those who take longer than seven days to pay.
NON-COMPLIANCE
DA transport spokesman Ian Ollis, who called for an investigation, said the legislation did not comply with the requirement that draft versions must first be sent to Parliament for input.
The regulation dealing with peace officers gave the public only 20 days to comment, but was never brought before Parliament for comment. The second legislation, which dealt only with toll tariffs, gave the public 17 days to comment.
Ollis said the party welcomed that proper oversight and legislation was finally taking place.
“The government cannot be allowed to slip through regulations guiding the implementation of the deeply unpopular e-tolls without appropriate oversight,” he said.
DA spokesman in Gauteng Jack Bloom said pushing through legislation showed that the implementation of e-tolling was far from ready.
He said the legislation was also being pushed through on a national level when it should also be coming to the province for comment as it affected Gauteng in particular.
“If they try and push ahead with the legislation, we will fight this in court,” said Bloom.
“Regulations that didn’t follow proper procedure have been fought in court before, and the government has lost. If that happens, they will have to redo the whole process.”
Bloom said that if proper procedure was followed, the government would be ready to go ahead with e-tolling only next year..” -The Star