CALL ME BACKFinance Minister Enoch Godongwana delivers his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS in Parliament on Wednesday where he is expected to announce the Cabinet’s decision on a way forward for e-tolls in Gauteng. This comes after years of delays from government in announcing what it plans to do with the system against the backdrop of fierce opposition from the motoring public of the province. The Automobile Association (AA) says government cannot delay making a formal announcement on the matter any longer.
Since its introduction in December 2013, the payment of e-tolls for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) has been a contentious issue with many motorists in the province refusing to pay. Their assertion then, as it is now, is that government must fund the GFIP through other means, possibly a ring-fencing of some of the revenue collected through the General Fuel Levy (GFL).
In late August, and with the MTBPS in mind, we launched a petition urging motorists to communicate their unhappiness with the e-tolls in Gauteng, and asking that the system be scrapped once and for all. To date, more than 20 000 people have signed the petition with each objection going directly to the Minister of Finance and the Minister of Transport.
“The compliance rate for e-toll payments is already below 20%; Gauteng motorists have clearly already communicated their position to government. However, it’s now time government makes a formal statement on their position on e-tolls and gives the province’s citizens assurances that it will scrap the system and not pursue any debts owed,” says the AA.
In addition to cancelling old debt, all money collected to date must be paid back.
“Only a decision to scrap the system will be acceptable to citizens, and it must be done now. Failure to do this will further harden people’s attitudes to e-tolls and will, in any event, result in a further decline in compliance levels. A decision to scrap will also indicate that the government is listening to the people it should serve who have, for years, been vocal about their opposition. Not scrapping e-tolls in Gauteng has the added consequence of further alienating the public already batted by rolling electricity blackouts, water restrictions, rising fuel costs, and climbing inflation,” notes the Association.
In its 2019 Road Funding Report (https://aa.co.za/road-funding-report/) the AA noted that motorists in the province have taken a principled stance against e-tolls believing, correctly, that funds for the GFIP should be sourced elsewhere from the Treasury.
“Citizens are already extremely cash-strapped and can simply not bail the government out of a situation it was warned would fail. To continue with the system now would send a message of a government who doesn’t care about the financial crises of its people, nor that it is doing anything to mitigate against those challenges. Minister Godongwana now has a perfect opportunity to indicate this is not the case and to finally scrap this system,” concludes the AA.
