E-toll opponents seem to be divided over whether Gauteng premier David Makhura made the right decision to hold off on releasing the final e-toll review report to the public immediately, or whether he made the right move by letting the provincial government study it first.
Makhura established the 15-member panel in July to assess the socio-economic impact of e-tolling on the province. During the past few months, the panel received input from different stakeholders and organisations, including business, civil society, as well as national government and the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral).
Panel chairperson professor Muxe Nkondo yesterday handed over the report - as well as all submissions made during the review process - to Makhura. Nkondo stated the panel was satisfied with proceedings throughout its review process.
Speaking at a press conference in Johannesburg, Makhura said local and national government would be consulted once the report has been studied, while its contents will be made public "once we have concluded our processes".
Makhura stated deputy president Cyril Ramaphosa has been mandated by Cabinet to guide government's approach to e-tolling, but declined to discuss any of the report's contents at this stage. It is understood the report would be released to the public in January. Ramaphosa's spokesperson, Ronnie Mamoepa, could not be reached for comment this morning.
Transparency
However, reactions are mixed to Makhura's decision to withhold the report from public scrutiny while government studies its recommendations. The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) says it is disappointed Makhura did not immediately make the report public.
"For the sake of transparency, while government is studying the recommendations, the public should have been able to do the same. So we are a bit disappointed," says Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage.
But, he says, Makhura should be praised for successfully steering the panel and meeting government's deadline to complete the review process - "something that is unusual these days". "We are impressed that the premier managed to achieve engagement across such a vast cross-section of the population. Let's wait and see what the panel's recommendations actually are."
On the other hand, Justice Project SA chairperson Howard Dembovsky says Makhura was right to keep mum about the report's contents at this stage. "I have noted that some are saying the report contents should be made public right now, before premier Makhura - who commissioned the thing - has even had a chance to read it and I do not support that view.
"January is not that long to wait for this report to be published in its entirety for all to read and, in any case, are people going to replace family time over the festive season with reading the e-tolls report? I sincerely doubt it."
Despite having opposing view about the report's delayed public release, both Duvenage and Dembovsky say the contents are largely academic, as the system has failed to gain public support.
"A system that does not have public support - less than 30% - will fail. We have a year to look back on the mess that e-tolls has been. There is no case for rationality here - there is nothing they can say that will justify e-tolling. I look forward to seeing it scrapped," says Duvenage.
"Ultimately, whatever the report contains or does not contain is going to have little influence on the public's preparedness to buy into e-tolling or, more poignantly, the real issue of ring-fencing access to the economic hub of South Africa with toll roads," says Dembovsky.
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