Outa CEO Dwayne Duvenage has denounced newly elected Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi’s announcement that he, along with his finance MEC Jacob Mamabolo, is developing a plan to scrap the e-toll system.

At his new cabinet announcement on Friday, Lesufi said he plans on generating additional revenue to pay off debt incurred by Sanral.

“Because we want to scrap e-tolls, the mandate of the new MEC for Finance is to formulate new revenue methods that we want to utilise to take the debt away from Sanral,” said Lesufi.

“This makes no sense whatsoever,” Duvenage told Rekord.

“Lesufi does not have the authority to do this, and what he is asking Mamabolo to do does not make sense at all. This is a national competence, not a provincial one.”

“It has to be resolved by the ministers of transport and finance and is not going to be resolved at a provincial level. So it is quite strange that that statement was made as he took office.”

The spokesperson for Lesufi, Vuyo Mhaga, told Rekord the conversation is ongoing, and an announcement will be made later in October.

There has been much back and forth between Outa and transport minister Fikile Mbalula regarding the scrapping of the system.

Calling it ineffective, Duvenage feels there is no other option but to do away with the system entirely.

In August, Outa announced it had been in talks with Mbalula to find another use for the toll gantries.

“This system has completely failed citizens,” said Duvenage.

“People want to know what the government’s final decision on e-tolls is. Only a few people, mainly businesses, are still paying.”

One suggestion was to use them to police the average speed of cars passing through.

Duvenage added that e-tolls could also be used to gather data.

“This data will include things like how many people use certain off-ramps and how many cars drive through a certain area a day.

“This data can be very useful for local property developers and city planners.”

In August, Sanral called for a tender indicating it was looking for an alternative use for the system, with one proposal being average speed policing.

The Automobile Association also said that the e-toll system should go.

“Suggesting road funding and maintenance is an either/or situation based solely on e-tolls is misleading, there are other options available.

“Scrapping of e-tolls should not result in a lack of maintenance and development on the Gauteng freeway; it just means alternative sources of funding must be sought,” it said in a statement.

Outa has increasingly become frustrated with the government’s repeated proposals to scrap the system without following through.

Duvenage wants Mbalula to give Gauteng residents a straightforward answer.

In June, Mbalula said he would make the announcement in October.

There was even more controversy in September when Outa claimed that finance minister, Enoch Godongwana, could use the fuel price cuts as an excuse to increase the fuel levy to finance the system.

Godongwana denounced Outa’s statement as an attempt to merely stir worry among motorists.