DA vows to repurpose e-toll gantries after elections
The DA's Gauteng leader, Solly Msimanga, has reiterated the party's intention to rid the province of e-tolls.
The unpopular system remains in place while the Gauteng provincial government moved to settle a R12,9 billion bill.
During the 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the national government would scrap e-tolls and absorb the debt by paying 70%, while the Gauteng government would cough up the remaining 30%.
Recently, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said the government’s failure to scrap the e-toll system is a betrayal of people’s trust as it continues to place an unfair financial strain on residents.
Briefing the media on Thursday, Msimanga said the DA will repurpose the e-toll gantries as a monitoring tool for traffic.
“We need to make sure that we scrap the e-tolls once and for all, we then use the gantries for traffic management purposes. We can use them in ensuring that people are driving within the speed limit. We intend on ensuring that trucks will not be running on our roads 24/hrs, we will monitor them and issue fines when needs be and generate an income which will help in managing our roads."
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi is expected to make an announcement on the scrapping of e-tolls during his State of the Province Address next week.
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