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Outa members grow as e-tolls discount extended

Paula Gilbert
By Paula Gilbert, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 09 May 2016
Outa says motorists are defying e-tolls as a matter of principle and not only for financial reasons.
Outa says motorists are defying e-tolls as a matter of principle and not only for financial reasons.

E-tolls opponent, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), says its membership has grown by several thousand over the last few weeks.

This comes at the same time as the Department of Transport has extended the deadline on the 60% discount for Gauteng road users to settle outstanding e-tolls debts.

Outa says it is in no way surprised the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has been forced to extend the period by another 10 days "in an attempt to claw back a bit more of the R5.9 billion discounted e-toll debt".

Sanral introduced a Less60 campaign last year, which ran for six months, coming to a close on 2 May. Sanral says over 300 000 e-toll defaulters in Gauteng took advantage of the discount. Transport minister Dipuo Peters then extend the deadline on the discount offer by an additional 10 working days - to 17 May.

Outa says Sanral's recent legal summonsing "of a few handpicked e-toll defaulters", is an attempt to spook the public into taking advantage of the dispensation deadline extension.

"While in reality, the scheme has been shunned and the uptake has been far too low to convert the scheme to a sustainable one. All research and evidence has shown the public are defying the system as a matter of principle and not only for financial reasons," according to Outa.

Outa says it is still ready to fight for its members who receive court summonses for not paying their e-tolls debts.

"We are moved by the incredible support we have received and the fact that the majority of motorists still continue to defy the scheme. Outa's membership has continued growing by several thousands over the last few weeks, and we are encouraged by the amount of organisations and citizens outside our membership base who are choosing to defend themselves against the summons," says Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage.

"Outa fully supports those who stand up for their rights, whilst maintaining the stance that e-tolls were introduced unlawfully and will offer full legal defence of its members who are summonsed for the non-payment of e-tolls."

Last November, Outa begun a campaign to help provide legal support for its contributing members should they find themselves in court over the non-payment of e-toll fees. At the time, Outa said the 'E-toll Defensive Umbrella' campaign is only available to those who "agree to Outa's conditions and sign-up to donate a monthly contribution of an affordable value of their choice".

Ten more days

Sanral says the deadline for the discount has been extended as many users could not meet the 2 May target date because of the long-weekend and two public holidays.

"Our systems are also processing the many last minute settlements and enquiries received prior to the deadline," according to Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona.

He says Sanral has received hundreds of thousands of enquiries since November about the details of the discount and how to apply for it.

"There are many road users who have been led up the garden path by our detractors and are now realising their claims about the legality of the e-toll system are as wrong as the miserable quality of their research."

Mona also welcomed the clarity by the National Consumer Commission (NCC), which has warned motorists will not necessarily avoid prosecution for unpaid e-toll accounts after the Freedom Front Plus submitted a complaint against Sanral with the NCC. The commission said Sanral can continue to hand out subpoenas as the matter is not under investigation.

Mona says final figures on the uptake of the discount offer will be communicated after all the applications have been processed.

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