An intergovernmental task team is working on finalising the phasing out of e-tolls, the Gauteng government said recently.

Gauteng premier spokesperson Sizwe Pamla said the team comprised representatives of the provincial government, the Treasury, national transport and e-toll administrator Sanral.

Pamla explained until such time that this team has completed its work, there was a temporary prohibition on engaging the media on the subject.

“The meeting acknowledged the report and urged the team to expedite its work of finalising the outstanding issues to implement this decision and close the e-toll chapter,” Pamla said.

Outa responds

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage told Pretoria Rekord there is no reason for the province to not proceed with the scrapping of the e-toll scheme as the decision had already been taken.

“The only two possible reasons for the delay are ineptitude to implement their decision, or possible nefarious use and syphoning of some of the estimated R40m per month being raised by the scheme,” Duvenage added.

He said the few remaining businesses that kept the system on life support were mainly car rental and fleet management companies, which he said should stop paying, as that would generate bigger losses to Sanral.

Duvenage said Sanral’s loss would put the government under pressure and force it to scrap the scheme.

“Premier [Panyaza] Lesufi has no power to scrap the scheme, or to announce any decisions to refund motorists who have paid. This decision and its implementation can only be carried out by national departments of the treasury and transport,” Duvenage said.

Shadow MEC lashes out

Gauteng shadow MEC for roads and transport Fred Nel recently accused Lesufi of being economical with the truth.

“Nearly a year ago, Lesufi announced that e-tolls were a thing of the past and had been scrapped. However, when the DA tabled questions in the legislature not too long ago, it emerged that only a steering committee has been established and that there is no financial model in place for Gauteng to pay its portion of the debt,” Nel said.

He added that the provincial government was indecisive while Gauteng residents continued to take strain because of the rising cost of living.

“Although we note the MEC for roads and transport, Kedibone Diale’s, utterances that conversations about ending e-tolls are progressing, she is still unable to provide a timeline for the conclusion of these discussions, and this is not creating much confidence that real progress has been made.”

Nel said this is worrying as the gantries had not been switched off yet and e-toll debt is still increasing.

“The Gauteng government is unable to indicate how much needs to be repaid for the e-toll gantries to be switched off. Our residents never agreed to the e-toll system, and the DA will continue to fight against any system that will negatively impact the residents of this province,” he explained.