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Minister of Transport hits back at DA e-tolls claims

Cape Town - There can be no substance to a DA claim of an appeal to the courts about e-tolls, since both the Supreme Court of Appeal and the Constitutional Court have already ruled in favour thereof, Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters said in a statement on Friday.

This was in reaction to an e-tolls briefing the Department of Transport said was held by the DA.

"The DA's attack on e-tolls is just electioneering - and also grossly misleading. Tolling has been national policy since 1996 and as such cannot be changed as the result of a municipal election, as the DA seems to claim," Peter's said in the statement.

"It is carefully and selectively applied in our country. Furthermore, due to its indiscriminate nature, a fuel levy can be an anti-poor form of tax."

Only 3 120km of SA's 750 000km road network are tolled and only 201km form part of the GFIP toll roads and currently, registered public transport is exempted from e-tolls, for instance.  

She explained that world-class road infrastructure is essential to the implementation of the National Development Plan (NDP) and key government programmes such as Operation Phakisa. The Gauteng Freeway Improvement (GFIP) Project - the e-tolls project - plays a vital role in this road structure strategy and she emphasised that the only way to fund it, is through the user-pay principle of e-tolls, which is a globally accepted practice for improved road and other strategic infrastructure delivered at a faster pace.

In her view, the e-tolls project has already boosted the local economy and improved the lives of all road users in the Gauteng region.

Peters is adamant that government did listen to citizens' concerns about the e-toll system by means of a comprehensive consultation process, which included an inter-governmental committee led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. Elements of the system were even reviewed and a hybrid funding model proposed. An Ipsos survey found 34% of respondents found the e-toll tariffs reasonable, 27% were neutral about it and 38% said the tariffs are unreasonable.

READ: E-tolls are here to stay, says minister

Pledge signed

At a media briefing in Tshwane earlier this week, DA mayoral candidates in Gauteng, joined by DA Gauteng provincial leader John Moodey, jointly signed a pledge "to continue, with determination, the fight against e-tolls in Gauteng".
 
At the briefing the DA said the e-tolls project has made it more expensive for the poor to travel to work, has hurt small businesses, driven up food prices, and undermined job creation. In the DA's view the e-tolls project was "rammed through" by the ANC government without suitable public consultation, ignoring the public's opposition in the province.

The DA representatives further said where ever the party governs, it has fought e-tolls "and won" and it wants to do the same in Gauteng if it were to be elected in the upcoming election.
 
Last week the DA said it intends to table a private members bill to ensure better public consultation before the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) can construct toll roads.

The party’s spokesperson on transport, Manny de Freitas, said at a media briefing the decision to implement e-tolls in Gauteng was "stream-rolled and bulldozed despite heavy opposition from the public and several institutions".

The DA said it will propose that all spheres of government affected by toll roads should be consulted, including provincial and local authorities. In addition, it wants Sanral to build an alternative road for motorists who can’t afford the e-tolls. The party also indicated that it would want Minister of Finance Pravin Gordhan to consider alternative means of funding road construction. In the DA's view, it is “a myth that the user-pay-principle works” and it would rather opt for a “hybrid scenario” using other income streams determined from province to province.

ALSO READ: E-tolls: DA to table private member bill

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