Transport minister Ben Martins and the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) have published draft regulations and notices relating to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) for public comment.
The regulations and notices were published in the Government Gazette on Friday. The move follows the passage of the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill - otherwise known as the E-toll Bill - by the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) last Wednesday.
The publication details how the tolling process will work on the tolls for GFIP, and includes the e-road regulations, e-road specification regulations, regulations on exemption from payment of GFIP tolls, the Amendment to the National Road Traffic Regulations, the conditions of e-toll payments of GFIP and the exemptions of payments of tolls for GFIP for qualifying public transport services and emergency vehicles.
Sanral says the publication of the regulations and notices is the next step towards the eventual implementation of government's e-toll system.
Sanral CEO Nazir Alli says, "With the publication of the notices and regulations as well as the NCOP's decision, we are starting to implement the final steps before e-tolling begins. We encourage those who have not yet registered for their e-tags to do so now."
Alli says, while there are "a few steps left" in the process, implementation of the e-toll system is well on its way. "Sanral believes that tolling is a sustainable way of paying for the upgrade of the Gauteng freeway system. It is a tool that is used selectively to meet the challenges of a constrained fiscus and maintaining the road infrastructure."
The tolling regulations and notices are now available; giving interested parties 30 days to submit written comments on the draft documents to government.
Once the Amendment Bill is signed into law by President Jacob Zuma, e-tolling in Gauteng will commence.
"We as Sanral are ready to implement the e-tolling system. We have followed all due process and have all the necessary infrastructure in place to commence. Once all the legislative requirements have been met, we will implement," Alli concludes.
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