The transport department disputed a claim by Outa on Tuesday (19 November) that the e-tolling system will come into operation on December 2.<\/p>\n
Spokesman Tiyani Ponto-Rikhotso said he did not know where Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairman Wayne Duvenage got the date.<\/p>\n
“There will be a briefing tomorrow [Wednesday] where the minister will update the public about a number of issues including the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. I don’t know where he gets the date from,” he said.<\/p>\n
In a statement, Duvenage said: “Outa also expects the minister of transport to shortly announce their plans to launch e-tolling on 2 December.”<\/p>\n
He was waiting to hear how the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) planned to deal with people who failed to pay their toll fees.<\/p>\n
“Outa… trusts that Sanral will provide much more detail about how they plan to enforce the non-payment of e-tolls using the Criminal Procedure Act, and how the strained justice system is expected to cope with thousands of cases resulting from non e-toll payment,” he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, in Parliament, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said Sanral had over 1.4 million unsold e-tags.<\/p>\n
“Sanral procured 2,107,000 e-tags over the past three years; [a total of] 1,427,900 have not been allocated,” she said in a written reply to a parliamentary question.<\/p>\n
The figures imply 679,100 e-tags have been sold.<\/p>\n
Six weeks ago, Sanral CEO Nazir Ali said 600,000 e-toll tags were in circulation.<\/p>\n
In September, President Jacob Zuma signed into law the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill, giving Sanral the nod to start e-tolling on Gauteng’s freeways.<\/p>\n
In her reply, Peters said Sanral had spent about R25.3 million between January and October on campaigns to encourage the public to buy e-tags. This was in addition to about R11.3m spent in November and December last year.<\/p>\n
Democratic Alliance national spokesman Mmusi Maimane told reporters in Johannesburg on Tuesday that the existing gantries on the highways were only the first phase of the e-tolling project.<\/p>\n
He said Sanral intended to put up more gantries and extend e-tolling.<\/p>\n
“It is expected that at least 300km of the province’s highways will be tolled in phase two of the project,” Maimane said.<\/p>\n
“It is likely that this will be pushed through in the same manner as the existing phase, without proper consultation and at great expense.”<\/p>\n
E-tags: millions unsold<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DA warns of e-tolls phase 2<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DA sends e-tolls back to court<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DA to launch new legal action against E-tolls<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n DA to fund Outa e-toll legal fees<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n