Public not fooled – Outa

Wayne Duvenage, chairperson of Outa, says the reduced tariffs come with more questions and problems than solutions.

“The first concern with a reduction in e-Toll tariffs at this stage, is why now?

“Where was this money going to go to in the first place? Have the collection costs suddenly been reduced or is this a case of trying to force a thinner edge of the wedge into the door of public acceptance?” he says.

Duvenage says that sugar-coating the pill now merely prolongs the pain that society will have to endure later.

“This is unless, of course, there will be more transfers from treasury under renegotiation of the contracts to significantly reduce the costs of collection.

“What the authorities need to realise is the public are not fooled by this tactic; they know the rate of today is not the rate of tomorrow,” he says.

He adds that the public knows it is the inefficiency of a system that is saddled with high costs of e-Toll collection, which enriches foreign and local companies, all of which does not disappear through a temporary reduction in the tariffs or any other enticement tactics that Sanral will deploy in the coming months.

“What is extremely worrying are the worldwide events of societal rejection and uprising against government’s who take their citizens for granted, as is happening in Brazil, Egypt and Turkey.

“Our government seems not to notice these developments and the possibility of similar incidents unfolding in South Africa,” says Duvenage.

He adds that such protests will be detrimental to investor confidence and South Africa’s fragile economy, yet they simply continue to ignore their people on this important issue and other matters.

“It is a great concern that the treasury can attempt to justify the enormous wasteful costs of the e-Toll collection system along with its inherent risks, at a time when the cities of Pretoria and Johannesburg have yet to roll out plans to offer road users safe and reliable public transport alternatives over the next few years.”