Divergent views on e-tolling

Government and industry stakeholders still can't come to an agreement regarding the e-toll system.

The inter-ministerial committee set up by Cabinet to assess the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) and e-tolling as its funding mechanism has been hosting consultations with various sectors on the matter.

The committee last week met with Business Unity SA and yesterday met with the Southern African Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (Savrala) and the Road Freight Association (RFA).

A joint statement from yesterday's meeting says it was very constructive, frank and robust. The meeting allowed all parties an opportunity to raise their concerns in relationship to the GFIP.

“Both the RFA and Savrala listed in detail issues their organisations were concerned about with respect to e-tolling. Government also articulated its position outlining the reasons that led to e-tolling as a solution.

“There was a meeting of minds that the GFIP is a necessity and that roads must be paid for. However, there were divergent views on the project. All parties agreed to meet in the near future to discuss the various issues raised at the meeting with a view of finding an amicable solution.”

The committee will meet with the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) tomorrow.

OUTA chairperson Wayne Duvenage has resigned as CEO of car rental group Avis. However, he says he remains committed to the OUTA case against e-tolling.

Duvenage will officially step down as head of Avis on 31 July. “While I will be working on new business opportunities, these will take a few months to materialise and, in the meantime, I remain committed with an even heightened focus on the OUTA case.”

The OUTA chairperson says his role in the e-toll battle had nothing to do with his resignation. “The Avis senior management and executive team have been extremely supportive of the role I have played in the e-tolling matter and in no way was this a factor in my decision to resign.”

Duvenage will remain as OUTA's chairperson. “We are at an important stage in our case to halt e-tolling. Of late there has been a lot of 'consultative' positioning on government's behalf. The reality is that nothing has changed, figures being bandied about are changing all the time and their 'user pays' principal being espoused is very flawed. We remain adamant that e-tolling is a most irrational decision and must be stopped.”

The association has been appealing to the public to donate funds to help it move forward with the court case. Today, it announced on social networking site Facebook that it has passed the R4 million mark.

”Well done SA, we raised R1 million in just over three weeks, but we still need just over R6 million in the next two months.” OUTA needs about R10.8 million for the entire case.

OUTA got an interdict granted against e-tolling by the North Gauteng High Court and is currently battling government's appeal of the interdict. In line with the interdict, e-tolling cannot be implemented until a full judicial review has occurred.