Photo by: Duane Daws
The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) has placed on record its concern surrounding the e-toll review process, stating on Wednesday that the e-toll advisory panel report and associated stakeholder engagement could not be regarded as sufficient to resolve the existing clash of positions on the tolling system.
“While the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG) deserves applause for initiating a necessary process to transcend the impasse over e-tolls, it is not sufficient.
“The retrospective process of consultation facilitated by the GPG can in no way be interpreted as having made good the failure of the South African National Roads Agency,” the organisation outlined in a letter to Gauteng Premier David Makhura on Wednesday.
In the final round of consultations centred on the e-tolling system, Makhura last week met with representatives of civil society, political parties and labour to elicit their feedback on the recent e-toll report before the province came to a final determination based on the report’s findings and recommendations at the end of the Month.
The report, which was compiled by a panel of transport experts and released in January, described the current system as “unaffordable and inequitable”, adding that it placed a disproportionate financial burden on low- and middle-income households.
Outa on Wednesday further reiterated its position that the lawfulness of e-tolling remained “an open question” until a criminal court had heard the arguments made against the system during an earlier judicial review process.
It added that it would now take its fight against e-tolls to Parliament and the Presidency.