Despite the SA National Roads Agency's (Sanral's) plea for disgruntled e-road users to take their complaints to its dedicated platform -e-toll call centres - many have chosen to vent via social media networks instead.
This comes as already widespread antagonism towards government's controversial open road tolling system boiled over yesterday, after a derisive comment made by the roads agency's spokesperson Vusi Mona, who implied a concerned motorist had an inferior IQ.
The on-air comment saw a Twitter torrent of retorts to what many say was "arrogant" and "inexcusable" behaviour. One Twitter member remarked: "I'm beginning to suspect that Mr Vusi Mona is on the payroll of Outa, there is no way a spokesperson can do so much harm to his employer." (sic)
Sanral yesterday apologised for Mona's comment - which it said was made "in jest" - but said the issue was being blown out of proportion, after Justice Project SA called for Mona to be ejected from his seat as talking head of the state-owned entity.
Facebook frenzy
Today, in what the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) has dubbed a first in the protracted e-toll saga, citizens' ire was unleashed online in the form of a "Facebook status" protest.
As a preface to the virtual protest, Outa announced via Facebook on Wednesday: "We are doing a Facebook status protest, a first of its kind. On Friday 17 January, we ask everybody to change their status to: 'My name is (*insert name here*) and I will not pay for e-tolls #TagFree'.
"Please copy and paste the message above into your status and remember to insert your name.
"We, and many other groups, will send out reminders at 8:30 on Friday morning."
Facebook users quickly took to the platform and posted the status - with #TagFree Facebook posts still being posted frequently at the time of publication.
It did not take long for the Facebook frenzy to spill over onto Twitter, which saw #TagFree trending from about 7:40am this morning, while "Vusi Mona" had been trending prior. One protest tweet read: "My name is Wayne and even if I lived in Gauteng, I would not buy an e-tag #tagfree".
Consumer complaints
Meanwhile, another alternative to Sanral's proposed call centre port has emerged in the form of the Democratic Alliance (DA).
DA Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane has appealed to the people of Gauteng to send the opposition party their e-toll-related complaints, which it has vowed to lodge with the National Consumer Commission (NCC).
Maimane says the province's residents "are being unfairly bullied into paying their bills" and notes mounting evidence suggests many e-toll bills are incorrect or "sent without due process or prior invoicing".
Speaking to residents of Soshanguve - a township north of Pretoria, with a population of over 400 000 - Maimane said users from the area would pass through at least 14 gantries on a return trip to Johannesburg at an approximate cost of R37.92 per day. "Users will reach the minimum threshold of R450 per month with an e-tag [and] without an e-tag, the monthly rate will be almost double."
The DA says residents who would like to lodge their billing complaints with the NCC should send an e-mail to enocentn@da.org.za or tweet a picture of their SMS or bill to @DA_News, using the hashtag #No2etolls.
However, Sanral says discussing e-toll issues in the media space, social or otherwise, will not resolve them. "Sanral urges all motorists with e-toll-related issues to please contact the Sanral call centre on 0800 726 725 in order to clarify the issue."
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