Johannesburg - Cosatu on Thursday said it was disappointed that the panel appointed to review the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project had not called for the e-tolling system to be scrapped.
“Despite conceding that the e-toll system in its current form is unaffordable and inequitable and places a disproportionate burden on low- and middle-income households and is also administratively cumbersome, the panel shies away from the obvious conclusion from this - that the system, which has been overwhelmingly rejected by the people of Gauteng, should be abandoned,” said Cosatu spokesman Patrick Craven.
He said the most shocking comment by the panel was its assertion that “there is general acceptance of the user-pay principle”.
Craven said the evidence suggested otherwise.
Gauteng premier David Makhura had appointed the panel on July 17 to examine the economic and social impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the e-tolling system set up to fund it.
The panel reported back to the Makhura at the end of last year and he released their findings on Thursday.
He announced that he would convene a meeting with all the stakeholders next month.
Cosatu welcomed the meeting and indicated it would use the platform to argue strongly for the system to be scrapped.
Sapa