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E-tolls on ice: Gauteng reacts

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 23 Nov 2012
E-tolls have been put on ice, but it is not over until the fat lady sings, says the opposition.
E-tolls have been put on ice, but it is not over until the fat lady sings, says the opposition.

The controversial Gauteng e-toll system was put on ice when a vital Bill was withdrawn from Parliament yesterday, but the issue is not off the radar and the fight to have e-tolling scrapped will rage on.

The implementation of the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) and the Department of Transport's (DOT's) electronic open road tolling system has been delayed and cannot even be considered for the next three months.

The Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill (2012) was withdrawn by the ANC yesterday - the last day Parliament could vote on Bills for the year - just as it seemed e-tolling was an imminent reality for Gauteng motorists.

Without the Bill, e-tolling is immobilised until February, and can only be considered by Parliament when it reopens on 11 February.

The e-toll Bill, which makes provision for cross-border tolling and outlines other related provisos, will then be sent to the National Council of Provinces (NCOP), which will examine e-tolling further.

The Parliamentary committee that is deliberating on the Bill has agreed to request the NCOP to have public hearings in all provinces that have metro cities where e-tolls could be implemented in future.

Not over until the fat lady sings

While the development has come as a welcome turn for Gauteng citizens - who no longer have to worry about forking out more money over the festive season - and for opposition, which now has more breathing space to examine and contest the system, some feel it is just delaying the inevitable.

The bottom line, say opposition parties, is they will continue to fight e-tolls.

The Congress of SA Trade Unions' (Cosatu's) planned protest march is still going to go ahead next Friday, says national spokesperson Patrick Craven.

"Yesterday's decision is a delay - not a change in policy, so our campaign [against e-tolls] continues. Nothing has fundamentally changed; the postponement of implementation is just a procedural issue."

That said, Craven adds Cosatu is encouraged by the move in that it affords the union extra time and "we do hope that public consultation can now take place properly, which didn't happen before".

The protest will take place in both Johannesburg and Pretoria next week, with marches from the Market Theatre to the premier's office in Johannesburg, and from Schubart Park to the DOT offices in Pretoria, respectively.

Eternal hope

Ian Ollis, Democratic Alliance (DA) spokesperson on transport, is optimistic about the delay, saying it is "very good news" for SA at large.

"It shows that the ANC is under pressure and that the amount of opposition from opposing parties is having some effect. The government is, to a degree, trying to be accommodating and opposition parties are clearly having some effect on the debate and implementation."

A number of concessions were taken on board by Sanral and the ANC at the transport committee hearings this week, he says - such as measures to mitigate the effects of e-tolling on surrounding municipalities and a provision that tariffs go through Parliament before being gazetted in future.

Ollis says the withdrawal of the e-toll Bill spells a significant delay, with the entire process being slowed down considerably. "In any event, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance's (Outa's) court case starts on Monday. This may require that further amendments to the Bill be made and this could slow down the process or even stop it for a while."

While, in the long run, a majority of votes by the ruling party would mean it is able to implement e-tolls, Ollis points out that, politically, government may not be able to afford to do so. "The war is not being fought on whether or not the government has the right to implement e-tolls, but on whether or not it can politically afford to implement it. It is becoming increasingly expensive for government in this regard and I remain hopeful that we can stop it."

'Nothing is inevitable'

Justice Project of SA (JPSA) national chairperson Howard Dembovsky says he does not believe anything is inevitable about the e-tolling project. "It is inaccurate to say that yesterday's events are 'just delaying the inevitable'."

He says yesterday's bumping of the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill did not come as a surprise to him.

"Almost everyone seems to have lost sight of the fact that the entire e-tolling project is to undergo a judicial review on Monday, and this could conceivably bring a halt to the entire project - and I most certainly hope it will."

Dembovsky says the recent public consultation meetings, hosted by Sanral and the DOT, made it "more than abundantly clear that it is the intention of the various role-players to forge ahead with this nonsensical waste of taxpayers' money, regardless of what anyone thinks of it and regardless of what alternative is presented".

He says legislation is a vital part of a functioning society, but "it is also clear that the various role-players care little for whether the legislation surrounding this monstrosity is workable or not".

In a letter to the director-general of the national DOT yesterday, Dembovsky outlined the JPSA's objection to e-tolls and urged government to urgently and seriously consider rescinding its stance on the e-tolling project.

"While JPSA does not encourage defiance of laws, in this particular case we see no alternative."

Freedom Front Plus (FFP) parliamentary transport spokesperson Anton Alberts says the delay of e-tolls is a "great victory for the ordinary people of Gauteng who use roads and who can no longer carry the financial burden of making a living in SA".

Alberts says the FFP will do its part in the review case against the decision to implement e-tolling by presenting new arguments that will strengthen the case.

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