The DA notes that it has cost the Department of Transport in excess of R50 million to collect debt generated by the e-toll system since its implementation in December.<\/p>\n
The political party said it received replies to two parliamentary questions in which the Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, admitted that while almost half a billion rand in e-tolling invoices was meant to be collected from motorists, only 9% of that amount was actually recovered.<\/p>\n
“This means the people of Gauteng are effectively rejecting e-tolls in their numbers,” the DA said.<\/p>\n
The minister revealed that R544 million worth of invoices were transferred to the Violations Processing Centre, while only 9.21% of the total value of transactions has been recovered since the project’s commencement.<\/p>\n
“Furthermore, it costs the Department of Transport over R50 million just to collect debt generated by this system from the people of Gauteng,” the DA said.<\/p>\n
“The reply states that R54,735,638 has been spent collecting debt as of 1 March 2014. This includes R32,782,580 for postage and printing of invoices and the cost of the actual collection process which is R21,953,058,” the party said.<\/p>\n
“The minister\u2019s reply reveals clearly that South Africans do not want e-tolls and they are not paying for them. It also reveals the costs of the administrative nightmare that has been debt-collecting over the past couple of months,” said Ian Ollis MP, DA Shadow Minister of Transport.<\/p>\n
The DA maintained that e-tolling will be disastrous to the economy and people of Gauteng.<\/p>\n
“The DA will continue to put an end to e-tolls and if we win Gauteng after these upcoming elections, we will action our commitment to end this burdensome, and job-killing, system imposed on our people,” Ollis said.<\/p>\n
Unpaid e-toll fees at R543 million<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n E-tolls not only a middle class problem<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n