E-tolls saga: it’s ANC vs ANC

The e-tolls debate seems to be the most difficult issue to resolve for the ANC. The more they talk about it, the more they disagree on whether it should be cancelled or not.

Now Gauteng Premier David Makhura has another fight at hands as the Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has smuggled through the back door new regulations that would reinforce the e-toll implementation.

At the same time, Makhura appeared to be exhausted by the never-ending fight with national government, who insisted “users must pay”. For the last few years, Gauteng had opposed the implementation of e-tolls, saying it was unfair and costly to Gauteng motorists who drove on the highways.

According political analyst Susan Booysen, the standoff between the provincial government and national was due to the fact that the matter had become an embarrassment to Pretoria because it showed it was weak to implement its policies.

“It is such an embarrassment for national government to back down and be seen to be weak and indecisive.

“Government is also scared of a backlash from other provinces that are paying, hence it is unrelenting on the issue,” Booysen said.

Another political analyst, Prof Dirk Kotze, said the implementation of the system had proven too costly for the ANC in Gauteng and could still be a problem in future if continued.

He said the ANC’s past losses at metros like Johannesburg, Tshwane and a poor showing in both Ekurhuleni and eThekwini was attributed to the e-toll implementation in some quarters.

Kotze said some argued there were tolls on other highways such as N3 and N4 and there were no complaints, so what made Gauteng special? But that argument had been countered by the fact that in Gauteng, it is daily commuting motorists who were burdened by e-toll costs.

In other provinces, the travellers and passing vehicles bore the brunt to pay rather than local people. “In other provinces, it’s not a daily routine. The idea was, if there is e-toll, there must be an alternative route for those who don’t want to pay. But in Johannesburg there is no such a route unless you go through suburban areas,” Kotze said.

Yesterday Gauteng MEC for transport and roads infrastructure, Jacob Mamabolo, reiterated the provincial government’s opposition to the e-toll system. “We have made a very comprehensive submission to the president, the ministers of finance and transport which we believe can resolve the e-toll matter once and for all,” Mamabolo said.

The e-toll issue, which he vehemently opposed, had been Makhura’s pet topic and he was backed up the provincial ANC, which vowed to continue protesting against the project.

At some stage Makhura, Mbalula and Finance Minister Tito Mboweni were tasked by President Cyril Ramaphosa to find a solution to the crisis. But instead of resolving it, Mboweni said during his budget speech that “users must pay”.

Mboweni reiterated that statement during last week’s budget, something that caused a debate as to whether the ANC was keen to do away with the costly project.

Booysen said national government could be pushing the pressure button because it made no revenue and the money already paid for the e-tolls was not sufficient to cover the cost of its installation.

“There is evidently no implementation of the policy by national government,” Booysen said.

ericn@citizen.co.za

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