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E-toll announcement expected soon

Bonnie Tubbs
By Bonnie Tubbs, ITWeb telecoms editor.
Johannesburg, 18 Nov 2013
Many of Gauteng's highways will soon no longer be free to travel on.
Many of Gauteng's highways will soon no longer be free to travel on.

While Gauteng awaits the inevitable whistle for e-tolling to begin, the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) says there has been an uptake in e-tag sales, and the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) says it expects "massive" resistance to what it believes is an unjustly conceived, impractical money-raising project.

This comes as transport minister Dipuo Peters is expected to announce a commencement date - likely to be early December - for open road tolling in Gauteng, as the e-toll tariff process has drawn to a close.

The e-toll tariffs - published on the same day Outa's final legal fight in the Supreme Court of Appeal ended unsuccessfully - were online for 30 days, during which the public could comment. At the time, the Department of Transport (DOT) said it would collate the input it had received before issuing a notice of commencement and, about 14 days later, switch on the e-toll system.

Sanral and the DOT have been criticised in the past for not taking public opinion into account, despite carrying out its obligatory task of inviting comment. Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona says the two parties, which are instrumental in running and maintaining Gauteng's e-roads, have always followed legal procedure in the execution of the public participation process.

"The courts have vindicated us on this very point. Therefore, we are not going do anything different this time around. We will simply continue to do everything by the book."

Asked whether e-toll tariffs will be lowered at all, following the commencement of e-tolling, Mona says the latest toll fees already have discounts factored into them. "We do not see any further discounts in the near future."

Ongoing action

Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage cites sources as saying the go-live date for e-tolls is likely to be the first week in December - two weeks away - while the notice announcement, which must be followed by a 14-day period before e-tolling can physically begin, is expected this week.

"If [Peters] announces today, this gives them a 2 December launch date. They can't wait much longer if they want to launch this year, which they have clearly indicated they intend to do."

DOT spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso previously said he would not put a date to it, but said the last leg of the process would be the issuing of notice of commencement, two weeks before the system would go live. "So you can do the maths. I don't want to commit to a date."

Meanwhile, various groups - including the Democratic Alliance (DA), Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and Freedom Front Plus - have been intensifying their efforts to thwart government's planned e-toll system.

The DA says Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane will call a press conference tomorrow to announce further anti-toll campaign plans, which he says will focus on working together with communities opposed to the new road tax. This comes about two weeks after the party filed court papers to have the e-toll Bill sent back to Parliament for re-tagging.

Duvenage has welcomed what he says were successful and peaceful protests against e-tolls by Cosatu last week and says the alliance is "encouraged to see continued efforts from all sectors of society in opposition to e-tolls".

He believes, given public resistance and additional litigation challenges by political parties, authorities should be concerned about the legality of e-tolls. "We are convinced there will be a legal challenge, or possibly hundreds, brought against the system by those who are summonsed for not paying e-tolls, as has been claimed by many throughout public and social media forums and during surveys."

He says the introduction of e-tolls could be the "tipping point" for citizens' frustrations, especially in this case where society feels vindicated and empowered in their decision not to participate in this unjust policy.

Now that Outa is out of the courtroom, Duvenage says Outa is finalising new strategies "to empower society with their rights and knowledge to exercise civil courage and stand together to stave off this irrational policy".

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