The Gauteng e-tolling project’s attempts to fix a July tariff faux pas has again been called into question - this time with road agency Sanral and the Department of Transport accused of trying to “retrospectively apply a new tariff outside what is legally permissible”.
On Friday the department published an amendment to the new e-toll dispensation tariffs announced by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, that came into effect on July 2, by reducing charges for non e-tag holders to double the standard tariff after 30 days instead of three times as much.
But the new tariff regime that would also see motorists with no e-tags given a 50 percent discount on invoices paid within 30 days instead of the previous 60 percent, has raised the ire of the Justice Project SA (JPSA).
“It is my contention that, as big a mess as Sanral and the department made of interpreting what Cyril Ramaphosa told the nation when they came up with their new dispensation tariffs, they cannot retrospectively fix their mess and apply a new tariff without violating Section 27(3)(d) of the Sanral Act,” said JPSA chairman Howard Dembovsky.
He added that neither Sanral nor the department seem to know or understand the provisions of the very act that they’re using to threaten members of the public.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance’s Wayne Duvenage said it was an indictment of the system that four and half years after e-tolls were set to come into effect there was still no “correct regulatory environment”.
He said this was largely because “Sanral was not paying attention to proper processes required by law”.
“It will be two years in December since e-tolling was launched, and we believe that R3 billion is outstanding in debt that they will never be able to collect,” said Duvenage.
“This (amendment of tariffs) doesn’t change anything, as the scheme is defunct and is not working.”
The amendment and its further concessions, which are intended to encourage disobedient Gauteng motorists to pay their e-toll bills within 30 days, come in the wake of reports suggesting that the system was “teetering on the brink of total collapse”, with revenue dropping to R60m a month.
Last week the Sunday Independent reported that the drop in revenue was despite Sanral’s bond repayments remaining at R260m a month.
At the same time the ANC National General Council (NGC) discussed e-tolls at length last weekend, according to the chairman of the Economic Transformation Committee, Enoch Gondongwana.
He said delegates expressed their appreciation to Ramaphosa for trying to craft a compromise. “The problem at the moment is that even that compromise hasn’t been implemented, and this is creating a bit of agitation.
“We are calling for the speedy implementation of the compromise. Gauteng people have said (e-tolls) have some form of economic impact on a number of people, particularly on certain sectors of society.
“We said government must find alternative ways to deal with those questions,” he said.
On Friday trade union Cosatu expressed frustration that there was no one in the ANC NGC who disagreed with the demand for the abolition of e-tolls, but that the party’s articulation of the outcomes of the NGC “ignored this consensus within the movement”.
“We do not want to hear about e-tolls but we want to hear about new buses and new roads. We will never allow our roads to be privatised,” said Cosatu in a statement.
“We will oppose e-tolls wherever they emerge.”
The federation’s affiliate municipal union - Samwu - joined the chorus of disappointment with the NGC’s posture towards e-tolls.
Samwu spokesman Papikie Mohale said that the NGC’s acceptance of the tolling dispensations was disappointing, and that it would antagonise the residents of Gauteng.
“We believe that these dispensations do not in any way address the needs of South Africans, not to mention that they remain unaffordable.
“The problem with this is that the people who have been involved in these dispensations do not use their private vehicles but rather state-provided vehicles and, as such, do not have to pay a single cent (of the tolls).”
Samwu said it had resolved that Cosatu should resuscitate the campaign against e-tolls and fight for decent, reliable and cheap public transport.
Saturday Star
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