E-toll review due to ANC losing votes in Gauteng: reports
The review of e-tolling, announced by Gauteng premier David Makhura on Friday 27 June 2014, is an attempt to win back votes the ANC lost in the May 2014 elections. This is according to a report in the Sunday Times.
Makhura announced in his State of the Province Address that an e-tolling panel will be set up which will solicit proposals on how to find new solutions for funding the province’s road infrastructure.
He said that they cannot close their eyes to the “cries of the sectors of our population who are affected by the cost of travelling across the province”.
Many groups welcomed the decision, including the Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) and the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), saying it is the “first real platform for dialogue on the matter”.
The Sunday Times reported that e-tolling was seen as the main reason by the ANC for its loss of votes in the province – down from 65% in 2009 to 53% on 2014.
“There’s been behind-the-scenes negotiations between province and national on the matter. When the election results were announced, it was decided then that this is an issue that we needed to look at,” said a member of the ANC provincial executive.
A Sunday Independent report added that the e-toll review is a bid to avoid losing control of the province in the 2016 municipal elections.
The City Press in turn reported that a “national fuel levy is likely to replace e-tolling … to repay its R20 billion public infrastructure debt”.
Incorrect e-toll bills, cloned numberplates frustrate Durban motorists
The Sunday Independent also reported that many Durban motorists received e-toll bills of thousands of rands despite never travelling on Gauteng roads.
The reason is that these motorists’ number plates have been cloned by people driving on Gauteng’s e-tolled freeways.
Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona said that cloned number plates have always been a problem, and that e-tolling is helping to tackle the issue.
This is not the first time this issue raised its head. In February 2014 ANC members of parliament were furious after they received e-toll bills from Sanral despite the fact that their cars were locked up and unused in Cape Town over the billing period.
Zurika Louw, CEO of the South African number plate association (SANA), said in an interview with ENCA that cloning a number plate is very easy.
According to Louw anyone can purchase the materials needed to clone a plastic number plate at a hardware store or a sign shop. “If you have a computer and a printer, you can make a number plate,” she said.
Louw said that cloning an aluminium number plate is far more difficult and needs special equipment.
However, a lack of regulation in South Africa on number plates make it easy for criminals and illegal number plate outlets to create cloned plates.
More on e-tolls
Government may scrap e-tolls: report
How to deal with e-toll roadblocks
E-tolls blamed for the rise in cloned plates
Don’t just listen to Sanral, Outa urges MPs
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