The Democratic Alliance (DA) is marching to the Modderfontein e-toll client service centre this morning in protest against the imminent implementation of the Gauteng e-tolling system.
DA premier candidate for Gauteng, Mmusi Maimane, says the party will continue the fight against e-tolling in Gauteng, even though president Jacob Zuma has signed the so-called e-toll Bill into law.
The Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Act, as it is officially known, was published in the Government Gazette yesterday, after it was announced on Wednesday that Zuma had signed it into law.
Opponents expressed their outrage at the news, saying it was "arrogant" and "disrespectful" of Zuma to sign the Bill on the same day the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) challenged the legality of the system in the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA).
Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj hit back in a statement yesterday, saying: "The president signed the Bill into law on Saturday, 21 September, before departing for the United States of America to attend the 68th United Nations General Assembly Session."
DA shadow minister of transport Ian Ollis says the DA does not consider the battle lost and will continue to fight e-tolls. "This is not the end. We will continue to prevent the implementation of e-tolls where we govern, and where we don't govern, we will use every reasonable means at our disposal to have it scrapped."
Maimane says the party will now take its opposition to e-tolls to the streets and "explore every possible angle to fight it here in Gauteng, the courts and in Parliament.
"But the public must know that the surest way to get rid of e-tolls for good is through the ballot box," says Maimane.
Patrick Craven, spokesman for the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), has confirmed the union will also take further mass action against e-tolls, although he says no official date has yet been confirmed. In June, Cosatu led the anti-e-toll action by disrupting Gauteng highways with a massive blockade.
Church leaders from South African Council of Churches, the South African Catholic Bishops Conference, the Evangelical Alliance of SA and the South African Christian Leaders Initiative have also expressed their surprise at the signing of the Bill. "We had no indication that this was imminent, but this does not change our confidence that government will continue to engage in the effort to resolve matters - rather than proceeding with the implementation of a system that has been so widely rejected by our people," says the group.
"We note the ongoing court action regarding the same matter, but we do not feel that fundamental moral issues can be resolved by a court of law. Regardless of what happens in court, we will continue to insist that government takes the interests of all the citizens into account in making such decisions, especially the interests of the poor and marginalised."
Yesterday, Department of Transport spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said the department will move as soon as possible to complete the legislative process and have the system implemented. The final step in the legislative process, before e-tolls become fully operational, is for transport minister Dipuo Peters to proclaim when the law comes into effect, and publish the final tariffs and regulations for a minimum period of 14 days before e-tolls start.
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