President Jacob Zuma's Cabinet reordering yesterday - the fourth in as many years - has placed the thorny issue of e-tolling in a new pair of hands.
Dipuo Peters, former minister of energy, will now oversee SA's Department of Transport, a portfolio steeped in challenges and - with government's proposed e-toll system still top of mind for Gauteng motorists - controversy.
Peters takes the wheel from Ben Martins, who has been in the post a little over a year, and is the fourth minister the Department of Transport has seen in the space of just three years.
But while the inconsistency at the top is disruptive, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) says the latest change of guard brings with it hope that the controversial e-toll system could be withdrawn.
Hot potato
Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage says the alliance is hopeful Peters will change the department's stance on e-tolls.
He says Peters is "inheriting a huge hot potato" and will have to address the issue quickly, with just nine months to go until the 2014 elections. "This [change in leadership] could just be the catalyst that is required to resolve the e-toll issue. She may say she wants to take a fresh approach to the system, or that she needs more time to evaluate it."
Outa reiterates it is not too late to halt the current e-toll plans for Gauteng, and "thereby seek a solution to the challenges of road funding that will be in the best interests of citizens, business and the country as a whole".
The anti-toll alliance says government's e-toll plan does not have the required support of society for it to succeed. "To simply forge ahead will do more harm than good and Outa would welcome constructive engagement in this regard from the [new] minister."
About Peters
Unlike Martins, Peters held her executive role at the Department of Energy for a considerable period - from 2009 to 2013.
A member of the African National Congress (ANC), she is on the Women's League National Executive Committee.
A political activist from her days as a student in the 1980s, Peters joined the ANC Youth League as secretary for Women Affairs in 1990, and became a member of the Provincial National Youth Committee between 1990 and 1991.
Between 1994 and 1997, Peters was a Member of Parliament in the National Assembly and was responsible for the Northern Cape and ANC membership/caucus register. During that time, she served as a member of the portfolio committees on home affairs, public works, social services and health.
Peters holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work from the University of the North (1987), a certificate in Development and Public Policy from the University of the Western Cape (1996), a certificate in Executive Management from the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (2002), and a certificate in International Policy Management from Havana, Cuba (2002).
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