Committee corrects Outa e-toll statement

Cape Town - The Portfolio Committee on Transport said on Wednesday that it erroneously stated that the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) is not opposed to e-tolling.

"The committee acknowledges and regrets this error. Outa is not opposed to the user-pay-principle, but has issue with the method of collection, which in this case is e-tolling," the committee said in a statement.

It said Outa chair Wayne Duvenage told the committee on Tuesday that Outa supported the user-pay-principle, but that the organisation felt there was a lack of consultation when the e-tolling system was introduced and, therefore, Outa opposed to e-tolling.

The committee's correction comes after Outa said in a statement earlier on Wednesday that it is "astonished and incensed" by the acting chair of the committee, Leonard Ramatlakane, asserting that the civil rights body is not opposed to Gauteng's e-tolls.

Ramatlakane said in a statement on Tuesday that Outa "is not opposed to e-tolling as people need to pay in order to have good road infrastructure".

In reaction to this, the civil rights body said on Tuesday that it would lodge a formal complaint with the chair of the committee as well as the Parliamentary Ethics Committee, seeking an apology and "retraction of elements within their misleading statement".

Outa told the committee on Tuesday that the body does not oppose the fact that all infrastructure must ultimately be paid for by society.

READ: Outa slams statement that it does not oppose e-tolls