The Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (Savrala) will take up legal action against the e-tolling system that is set to go live on 30 April.
“Our position has been made clear over the past, whereby the decision taken to toll our urban freeways in Gauteng is nothing short of being dismissive of a number of rights of the citizens of this country,” it says.
“Government's role is to use its citizens' taxes wisely, efficiently and to ensure that costs are minimised when providing services and the necessary infrastructure to conduct business. This has certainly not been the case here.”
Savrala also says the user pay principle being relayed as one of the motivations for the government's decision in this regard is weak, inconsistent and flawed.
“This is not a case of Gauteng's roads and Cape Town's roads and Durban's roads. These are 'all our' roads and we should not entertain this charade around why non-Gauteng citizens should not have to contribute to Gauteng's roads. Gauteng citizens have no problem with the untolled freeway upgrades that other cities have enjoyed in the past. To go down this road means that every other city's freeway upgrades going forward will suffer the same fate, something we know will not be entertained by our fellow citizens.”
The association also raises the issue of the expenses that will be accumulated to administer and enable e-tolling, saying it is extremely costly and an unnecessary burden to the citizens of Gauteng.
Savrala has now progressed with seeking advice and legal opinion on its position. “This is not a done deal. Our decision to seek a legal route is not being taken lightly or flippantly. We are also receiving numerous calls from other organisations, associations and individuals to support our challenge and are assessing options to incorporate these into a coordinated strategy,” says Savrala VP, Wayne Duvenage. He adds that further announcements in this regard will be released as and when details can be shared.
Massive protest
The Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) has repeatedly called on government to abandon the system. During its Central Executive Committee meeting this week, the federation said all affiliates and provinces reported overwhelming support for its planned general strike against labour brokers and the imposition of e-tolling on 7 March.
“It's all-systems-go for the biggest mass protest in years. Workers are determined to stop the commodification of public services through the imposition of tolling on Gauteng highways. These roads are national assets, for the use of the people of SA, not a commodity, which can be used to make profits at our great expense.”
Cosatu says it is open to further negotiations with the relevant ministers to try to reach agreement on these issues, even at this late stage. “Banning labour brokers and scrapping the e-tolls, however, remain our basic demands.
“We call on our members to intensify the mobilisation of the entire working class to participate in the protest actions. We call on every South African to join these protest actions, be they black or white - rich or poor.”
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