E-tolls proposed at R550 per month

E-toll opposition, Outa says time for consultation is over. (SABC)

Tags:

• Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance
• Outa
• Wayne Duvenhage
• e-tolls
• Freeway Improvement Project
• Kgalema Motlanthe
• Cabinet
• Cosatu
• Phumla Williams

Government has proposed that toll fees for e-tag users be capped  at R550 a month for light vehicles, Transport Minister Ben Martins said today.

"Registering for an e-tag account will provide users with the lowest possible toll fees," he told reporters in Pretoria.

"Following the consultations, we have lowered tariffs, reduced caps in all categories, offered discounts on tagged vehicles and during peak hours, and exemptions on public transport."

According to a Sanral presentation there were three different tariffs for different class of vehicles.

The standard tariff for a normal car, or Class A vehicle, was 58c/km.

Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) spokesperson, Wayne Duvenhage, says it is too late for consultations regarding Gauteng e-tolls. 

"This should have happened six years or five years ago before the major decision. What is basically happening is that they are forging ahead with tolling," says Duvenhage.

He says that they have held discussions with the committee and that they were given the documents and feed back to other alternatives which would cost much less and would be easier to apply than the e-tolling option. “I want to let go of the fine. We know that we have to pay for the roads,’ he added. Duvenhage says they remain determined to fight on. 

As the Government, we want to sit down and look at how we can find common ground. This consultation is for that purpose

Meanwhile, government has appealed to Gauteng motorists to submit their comments on the proposed e-tolling for Gauteng roads. Acting government spokesperson, Phumla Williams says consultations will help in moving forward. “As the Government, we want to sit down and look at how we can find common ground. This consultation is for that purpose,” says Wiiliams.

Williams says that they have met with the council of churches, Cosatu and the price company.

“We are now affording the public the opportunity to give their input. and I think the bottom line is that we want to get to a point where we are able to say this is a way that we are going to service the debt,” she added.

On Wednesday, the Inter-Ministerial Committee on the GFIP, chaired by Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe, briefed Cabinet on the system. Civil society organisations, Congress of South African trade Unions (Cosatu) and opposition parties remain opposed to the system.