Pretoria - The Department of Transport has finally come to the table to address misconceptions about the contested implementation of e-tolls in Gauteng.
The department yesterday submitted presentations to the advisory panel at the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) head office in Pretoria.
In her presentation, Minister Dipuo Peters said while the Gauteng premier had instituted the panel to review the socio-economic impact, he had still urged motorists to continue paying their e-tolls accounts to help repay the huge debt.
She came out in defence of the legality of e-tolls, saying they were above board and had been confirmed by six courts of law and 17 judges.
“We need to express our disappointment with what we see as a creeping tendency to disregard court judgments. It cannot be that people choose which court judgments to abide by and which to ignore,” she said.
The review panel instituted by Gauteng Premier David Makhura on July 17 has been looking into the socio-economic impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project on residents of the province.
October, earmarked as Transport Month, saw protest actions by various parties who have called for the tolling to be scrapped and the fuel levy to be used as an alternative.
However, Peters reiterated statements that the initial proposal to toll roads was that of the Gauteng provincial government back in 1997, as Sanral was established only later, in April 1998.
IT WOULD BE A BIG FUEL LEVY
Peters discredited the idea of utilising the fuel levy as a solution, saying all South African citizens would have to pay for the infrastructure in Gauteng and the fuel levy could not cover the entire debt.
“If the panel is of the view that the fuel levy would be able to cover the costs of the tolled roads then they should be able to go out and tell people that the average fuel levy will be increasing to R3.65 per litre,” she said.
“South Africa is estimated to have 10 million vehicles, of which 2.5 million are estimated to be in Gauteng. The province is the economic hub of the country. Stable infrastructure is required to ensure the continued growth of any economy,” the minister pointed out.
She emphasised that public transport vehicles were not expected to pay the tariffs. “They are exempted because government believes users of public transport are, in the main, people in the low- income bracket,” Peters said.
The minister said it was a lie that Sanral is making a profit.
Because Sanral is classified as a state-owned entity owned by the Department of Transport, it is not allowed to make a profit, she explained.
Over the next three days, Sanral is expected to make submissions to the review panel on why the implementation of e-tolls should continue.
Pretoria News