The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) on Monday said Sunday newspaper reports that the \u201ce-Toll scheme was on the brink of collapse\u201d vindicates its position that the \u201cuser-pays scheme was always questionable\u201d.<\/p>\n
A new \u201c60% discounted dispensation\u201a in attempt to hoodwink the public to come on board\u201d\u201a is also likely to fail\u201a Outa said.<\/p>\n
In a statement on Monday\u201a Outa said the reasons it believed the scheme would collapse were threefold:<\/p>\n
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral)\u201a Outa said\u201a has \u201cnever been able to muster even half the public to come on board\u201a their maximum compliance achieved being around 45% by mid-2014\u201a and that has now reduced to around 25%\u201d.<\/p>\n
Reports at the weekend suggested that Sanral CEO Nazir Alli was being made a scapegoat for the failure of the scheme\u201a but Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said government couldn\u2019t shirk the blame.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile (Alli) may indeed have been the architect and driver of the scheme\u201a Outa believes it was the minister of transport in 2008\u201a Jeff Radebe\u201a who signed the scheme into existence\u201a but did so without thorough independent questioning and verification of the research and numbers put forward by Sanral at the time\u201a\u201d said Duvenage.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur government\u2019s ministers and director-general are far too hasty in their acceptance of major capital expenditure projects\u201a and do not go to the required lengths to double check the claims\u201a data and research presented to them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is why we sit with the many costly capital expenditure debacles in Eskom\u201a Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa\u201a South African Airways and other inefficient state-owned entities of today\u201a with Sanral\u201a a once-respected organisation\u201a now joining their ranks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Outa said Sanral \u201cis about to announce a final push with the introduction of their 60% discounted dispensation\u201a in attempt to hoodwink the public to come on board\u201d.<\/p>\n
This\u201a Duvenage predicted is \u201cis a desperate folly that will not achieve the success levels required\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt best they may get compliance back to June 2014 levels\u201a but this will still be a significant failure and almost R2-billlion per annum shortfall of their required numbers to settle the bonds.\u201d<\/p>\n
E-tolls on the verge of collapsing: report<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n ANC Youth League wants e-tolls scrapped<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n