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Once a freeway, now an (e-)xpensive road

Cape Town - The ANC seems hopeful that Gauteng motorists would be more open to the e-tolling system after it announced a hefty tariff reduction are unlikely to be realised.

READ: ANC hopes motorists will welcome e-toll fee cuts

Fin24 user Avian said he finds it increasingly difficult to justify the decisions made by the government.

He wrote: "I’m all for quality, freedom etc etc but I almost feel as though we as South Africans have become submissive to the laws our government just feel they want to change one day and take away another.

"One day I’m driving down a 'free'-way and the next I’m driving down an 'e'(expensive)-way. One day I’m driving in a 120km/h zone and the next day it has randomly dropped to 100km/h due to 'new laws'."

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa believes the new e-toll dispensation announced on Wednesday is a just one. “A fair dispensation is being put forward to ensure the e-toll system is affordable and sustainable,” he said.

READ: Ramaphosa: New e-toll dispensation fair

But Avian disagreed. He said: "As for the 'new' e-tolls model that has been released to the public, I find it to be quite a joke."

Referring to the panel established last year to assess the social and economic impact of e-tolls, Avian has some scathing comments. "The government and Sanral (the South African National Roads Agency) aka Scamral was all for 'we listen to our people' - really? If they had listened to 'their people' did they just decide to ignore a good 80% of them crying for e-tolls to be scrapped?"

In a statement, the Democratic Alliance called the e-toll's advisory panel "a betrayal of the people of Gauteng".

"The people said scrap e-tolls, but the ANC has said e-tolls are here to stay."

However, ANC spokesperson Zizi Kodwa said concerns raised during the panel hearings were addressed. "The people have been heard, and government has responded positively," he said.

Government is out of touch with reality, said Avian. "I find that this government needs a reality check and we need the right people with the correct knowledge and skills set to clean up their act, or else this country has a very lonely future."

He said the decision to withhold vehicle licence renewals until outstanding e-toll fees have been paid is an infringement on his right to freedom of movement." I ask the question: isn’t withholding vehicle licences because of unpaid e-tolls an infringement against my basic human rights, namely the freedom of movement? 

"I am a law abiding citizen, but when there is an unjust system that gets introduced I somehow literally overnight become classified as a criminal because I simply refuse to support corruption."

Congress of the People spokesperson Dennis Bloem said: "The fact that government has now been able to slash the tariff by almost 50% and totally exempt all public transport vehicles from tolling, indicates that the public was right all along about someone somewhere creaming huge profits from e-tolling."

Cope believes the government should still find other ways of mitigating toll costs, considering the economic hardships people face, while the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance feels government should scrap e-tolls and come up with funding through the national fiscus, fuel levy and other mechanisms.

READ: Outa calls for Ramaphosa to scrap e-tolls

Avian concludes on a warning note: "I’ve got news for Sanral and the government: the people of South Africa have had enough and they (we) are going to take back the country you are slowly killing - it will start with the youth and the rest will follow suit."

Disclaimer: All letters and comments published in MyFin24 have been independently written by members of the Fin24 community. The views are therefore their own and do not necessarily represent those of Fin24.

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