Photo by: Duane Daws
People should not deliberately create confusion, or behave as though there was uncertainty around e-tolls in Gauteng, the Portfolio Committee on Transport said on Tuesday.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura last month committed to establishing a panel to review the impact of e-tolls on the province and its citizens. He announced during his inaugural State of the Province Address that the yet-to-be-established panel would invite proposals on possible solutions to the highly contested e-tolls.
Committee chairperson Dikeledi Magadzi said the committee was concerned about the confusion that was being created on the matter and the potential effect on motorists currently paying for e-tolls, stating that the pronouncement by the Premier should not be used by opportunists wanting to sabotage government programmes.
“The position of the committee, and Parliament, is that e-tolling is a legislated programme, meant to generate funding, not only for the loan the South African National Roads Agency is servicing, but also [to] maintain roads in Gauteng,” she said.
She added that South Africans should continue to pay e-tolls while “hiccups were being ironed out, and while initiatives aimed at encouraging payment are being pursued”.
“The pronouncement of a review task team, during the opening of the Gauteng Legislature, was never intended to discourage people from paying, and certainly never suggested that e-tolling has failed.
“The review task team is a matter of government, and would definitely look at alternative funding models for the project. E-tolls are about [the] improvement and maintenance of roads, and are definitely not a burden on the poor,” Magadzi asserted.
Makhura was expected to announce the members of the e-toll review panel on Thursday.