LISTEN: E-tolls have not met financial targets, says Mamabolo
Gauteng
Transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo says there are various reason why the e-toll
system should be scrapped.
This comes after the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) again lobbied workers and residents to ignore e-toll bills.
The federation wants the system to be done awy with.
However, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula says e-tolls are here to stay as the roads must be maintained, and this costs money.
“The e-tolling system should be scrapped. It is unfair that the payment of the e-tolls falls squarely on the residents of Gauteng, when the roads that have been e-tolled are serving the national economy, with international sense,” says Mamabolo.
“The system is based on a flawed basis. Especially with the principle of user pay, it is being violated by the system in the sense that we see people from neighboring provinces using these roads but do not pay.”
According to the MEC since the inception, e-tolls have never met its financial targets.
LISTEN TO MAMABOLO BELOW:
Meanwhile the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) says it comes as no surprise government has not made a decision yet.
“We’re not surprised because they have been kicking this can down the road for a long time, they told us the decision would be imminent for some time and yet they still haven’t made a decision. The public has spoken only 15% are paying which are mainly made up of the business and a few government departments not even all government department,” says OUTA’s Wayne Duvenage.
The Automobile Association shares the sentiment, with spokesperson Layton Beard saying they are concerned at the lack of official communication.
“There has been no official confirmation from the cabinet on what the future of e-toll is, and I think that’s part of our concern. The last official information we got was before the elections in 2019, when Sanr announced that it would not be pursuing historical debt.”
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