E-tolls to start soon

He said this after President Jacob Zuma signed the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill into law on Wednesday.

“We are waiting for the minister of transport to do some administration work which includes communication with stakeholders,” Mr Mona said.

The signing came on the same day as the Supreme Court of Appeal heard arguments from Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) in its bid to stop e-tolling in Gauteng.

Outa’s chairperson, Mr Wayne Duvenage said it was surprising that the president signed the bill.

“Bearing in mind that recent reports indicated that the Presidency was going to take some time to consider matters related to the correct tagging of the bill before signing it into law.

“In addition, we await the outcome of the Supreme Court’s ruling on Outa’s appeal as well as the recent recommendation by the Presidential Commission which reviewed state owned entities, stating that ‘funding for social infrastructure, including roads, should rely less on user pay and more on taxation’.

“No matter how elegant policies look on paper, it is not by the ticking of regulatory boxes that determine the governability of matters of this nature and magnitude,” Mr Duvenage said.

He said the success of e-tolls depend on motorists’ co-operation.

“The success of a policy depends on the support and buy-in of society and not on the abstract reasoning of transport economists. There are numerous examples where tolling has failed in other parts of the world, due to its rejection and lack of support by the road users.

“This generally happens when the costs are too high, coupled with other factors such as lack of transparency, low levels of trust in government and too many loopholes which make the system unenforceable. All these factors come into play in this specific e-toll plan, which we believe will ultimately be its downfall,” he said.

Mr Duvenage said reports that companies from other countries will benefit from e-tolls also put a dent on the already unpopular e-tolls project.

“Other matters have come to the fore which have further irked the public and advanced the levels of intolerance of e-tolling. The members of the public are now aware of the high profits, in excess of R650-million per annum, that will be earned by the European-based Kapsch TrafficCom. We now also know that due to construction company collusion the roads cost more than they ought to have. In addition, the enforcement of e-tolls will now be conducted through the Criminal Procedures Act (CPA) which makes this matter more difficult,” Mr Duvenage said.

Mr Mona said there was no need for waiting for the Supreme Court of Appeal’s decision on Outa’s appeal before implementing e-tolls.

“The highest court in our country, the Constitutional Court, set aside the interdict that prevented Sanral from implementing e-tolls. Now that President Zuma signed the bill into law, we have to implement it. That is how democracy works,” Mr Mona said.