Treasury passes e-tolls solution onto Gauteng govt
National Treasury has given the Gauteng government a mandate to come up with a solution to the controversial e-tolling system.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana made the announcement during Wednesday's mini budget in the National Assembly.
"We need to move on from the debates of previous years and find solutions to this challenge,” he told MPs.
"To resolve the funding impasse the Gauteng provincial government has agreed to contribute 30% to settling SANRAL’s debt and interest obligations, while the national government covers 70%.
"Gauteng will also cover the costs of maintaining the 201 kilometres and associated interchanges of the roads and any additional investment in roads will be funded through either the existing electronic toll infrastructure or new toll plazas, or any other revenue source within their area of responsibility."
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The controversial user-pay system has been a thorn in the side of both the Gauteng government and motorists for the past seven years.
Organisations such as the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) urging civil disobedience, which has led to very few motorists paying their e-toll bills.
However, motorists are still not out of the woods just yet, as Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula is expected to announce more details in the next fortnight.
