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Cape Town - The e-tolling saga in Gauteng is not a duel
between the state and the public, Transport Minister Ben Martins said on
Thursday.
"It's not as if the people are on one side and
government is on the other side.... We have been taken to court and the state
has to respond to that case," he said at a breakfast hosted by The New Age
in Cape Town.
He apologised for the "unfortunate chapter" in the
first phase of the e-tolling project, which had largely lacked public
consultation, and committed himself to making all relevant information
available in future.
"There has to be transparency. There has to be
information."
He repeated the message that there would have be some form
of payment by road-users.
"We would like to be in a position where all
roleplayers can contribute to finding a solution. The cardinal issue is that
the solution cannot prevail where absolutely nothing will be paid for roads.
"At the end of the day, we can't just print money. A
budget has to be found somewhere."
Martins said the reality was that the toll gantries were in
existence.
The SA National Roads Agency Limited and the National
Treasury appealed to the Constitutional Court on Wednesday against an interdict
granted in April preventing the implementation of e-tolling on Gauteng's roads.
The High Court in Pretoria ruled that a full review was
needed before electronic tolling could be implemented.
The appeal is being opposed by the Opposition to Urban
Tolling Alliance, which was granted the interdict.
The Constitutional Court has reserved judgment.
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