After approving the e-tolling system, the Gauteng government made a U-turn, the e-tolls review panel in Pretoria heard on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
“The Gauteng government has not informed me what led to the change of heart and direction on tolls,” Transport Minister Dipuo Peters said.<\/p>\n
She said the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) was conceived and approved by government, specifically the “ANC government”.<\/p>\n
The African National Congress was one of the groups that had made presentations to the panel rejecting the tolls.<\/p>\n
Gauteng ANC chairman Paul Mashatile told the panel several weeks ago that alternative ways needed to be found to fund the freeway upgrade project.<\/p>\n
Peters said Mashatile was there when the project was given the go-ahead.<\/p>\n
The panel, sitting in Pretoria, was appointed by premier David Makhura in July to examine the economic and social impact of the GFIP and the e-tolling system to fund it.<\/p>\n
The panel would present its findings to Makhura at the end of the month.<\/p>\n
E-tolls causing retrenchments in SMEs<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n