e-tolls

Gauteng e-tolls / photo by Dominique Jacobs http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/123159/view/

E-tolls: ANC has literally sold our freedom of movement, says EFF

The Economic Freedom Fighters have rejected the move to link e-toll fees to the renewal of motor vehicle licenses, saying the ANC has given us a “dompas to move from one place to the other”.

e-tolls

Gauteng e-tolls / photo by Dominique Jacobs http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/photo-contest/2011/entries/123159/view/

Government said yesterday that Sanral will align its e-tolls database with the vehicle licensing system, meaning that motorists will now have to pay their e-toll fees or forgo their vehicle licenses. Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that there will be no amnesty for unpaid e-toll bills.

“Settlement of e-toll fees will be linked to motor vehicle licence renewals; motorists will need to settle any outstanding e-toll fees before vehicle licence discs are issued,” Ramaphosa said while addressing the media in Cape Town on Wednesday.

A “single, reduced tariff will apply to all motorists” whether they have e-tags or not.

The monthly cap for Gauteng’s e-toll fees will be “dramatically reduced” from R450 to R225 a month and light motor vehicle e-toll fees will be reduced from 58c/km to 30c/km. “This is almost a 50 percent reduction,” Ramaphosa said.

Public transport and people who make less than 30 gantry passes a year will not have to pay e-tolls.

According to Ramaphosa, aligning the e-tolls database with the vehicle registration database will encourage people to pay.

EFF rejects the new e-tolls structure

The Economic Freedom Fighters have rejected these alterations as they believe government is infringing freedom of movement by making a profit from Gauteng’s roads.

“The most important outcome that South Africans wanted to hear is not a reduction of the costs of e-tolls, but the total eradication of e-tolls and their fees,” EFF national spokesperson Mbuyiseni Ndlozi said in a statement.

“It is the same as producing a dompas to move from one place to the other. It also means the ANC government has [commoditised] our roads; literally selling our freedom of movement.”

DA promises to continue fight against e-tolls in Parliament

The Democratic Alliance said the system was unjust.

“We will continue the fight in Parliament through the introduction of a private member’s bill to scrap e-tolling‚” the party said in a statement.

“E-toll payments have dropped from R120 million in June 2014 to R45 million in January this year, while Sanral’s monthly cost recovery targets have risen from R108 million to R204 million over the same period.”

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance said that government has “merely removed the punitive tariff” and not in fact lowered the tariffs.

“The reduced cap from R450 to R225 per month only applies to less than 10 percent of motorists, as more than 90 percent of users would not have exceeded that cap in the past anyway,” said Outa’s Wayne Duvenage.

Many Twitter users have responded negatively to the announcement:

 

The new system will be implemented in phases. The new cap and revised tariffs is expected to start in the next two to three months.

 

Photo by Dominque Jacobs