After announcing during his inaugural State of the Province Address on June 27 that the Gauteng provincial government would set up a panel to review the long-contested e-toll system, Gauteng premier David Makhura on Thursday announced the names of ten of the fifteen panel members who would be tasked with assessing the socioeconomic impact of the tolling system on the province.

Makhura told a packed media briefing at his office, in Johannesburg, that he had, over the past week, embarked on several consultations with relevant stakeholders – including national government – and there had since emerged a “common understanding” on the approach to be adopted by the advisory panel.

“I wish to reiterate that, while we shall not promise easy solutions and claim easy victories with the establishment of the panel, we are saying that we shall not turn a blind eye or close our ears to the cries of the people who are negatively affected by the cost of travelling across the province,” he averred.

Iterating that “the people’s voice must be heard on matters affecting our province”, the premier said the terms of reference for the panel would be to undertake a comprehensive assessment of the socioeconomic impact of the introduction of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project “in general” and of the e-tolls “in particular”, including their effect on the province’s economy and citizens.

The panel would also be tasked with inviting proposals and submissions from Gauteng residents and relevant stakeholders on the socioeconomic impact of e-tolls and proposed solutions thereto.

Once it had completed its investigation, the Panel on the Socioeconomic Impact of E-tolls would be required to submit monthly reports as well as a final report and list of recommendations to the Gauteng provincial government by November 30.

“We want a fact-based report, not an ideological one. The report must state, ‘this is what [e-tolling] has done and this is how it has impacted’,” Makhura averred, further urging commuters to continue paying the e-toll tariffs while the investigation progressed.

The office of the premier would provide administrative support throughout the process, while research centre the Gauteng City-Region Observatory would provide technical support to the panel, which would hold its first meeting on July 17.

The expert panel would comprise Professor Muxe Nkondo, who would act as chairperson, Dr Patricia Hanekom, who had been appointed secretary, and panel members Advocate John Ngcebetsha, Dr Vuyo Mahlathi, Dr Luci Abrahams, Professor Fiona Tregenna, Dr Anna Mokgokong, Dr John Sampson, Lauretta Teffo and Professor Chris Malikane.

“The panel comprises people with a good sense of the economy, finance and how various issues affect different sectors, which includes issues related to the environment, transport, logistics and road construction,” Makhura noted.

He would announce the remaining five panel members once he had “concluded consultations” with them.

CALL FOR FUNDS
Makhura’s announcement followed a media briefing held earlier in the day by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), during which the antitolling body made public a request to the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to state whether or not they still intended to pursue the prosecution and criminalisation of people who had not paid their e-toll bills.

Outa said for Sanral to do so would only serve to aggravate the implicit conflict between government and the people that currently prevailed over e-tolling.

“We cannot have one section of government opening up dialogue while another section is shutting it down by using the force of law to coerce compliance. While the premier’s review panel does its work, Sanral needs to show good faith and participate in the process in the hope that a way out of the impasse can be found,” commented Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage.

He added that any intention by Sanral to pursue its intended prosecution strategy could render the premier’s review process “meaningless”, spark further confusion and provoke additional societal resistance.

“[However], Outa’s plea has been met by outright rejection by Sanral, with recent comments in the media indicating that Sanral is intent on an imminent pursuit of prosecutions through the National Prosecuting Authority.

“In light of the above, Outa has no option but to stick to our commitment to assist those who believe e-tolling to be unlawful and, thereby, challenge the lawfulness of Sanral’s criminalisation strategy against those who refuse to pay their e-toll bills,” said Duvenage.

He noted that  Outa had gathered a significant volume of information that testified to wrongdoing by Sanral in the course of implementing e-tolls and would now launch its challenge by means of a ‘Rule of Law’ campaign, which would assist individual citizens who were prosecuted for e-toll transgressions.

He noted that besides core operational funding requirements, Outa needed to raise up to R4-million to cover the expected legal costs.

“Without these funds, we cannot cover the legal costs for the best lawyers suited to defend this matter.  We urge citizens to take five minutes of their time and contribute, no matter how much,” Duvenage urged.