No end to e-toll saga

The e-toll system in Gauteng is being challenged as the case between Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse and the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) winds its way through the courts.

The government repeats the mantra “users must pay” as though it is holy writ, but it is met by a better claim “beneficiaries must pay” that Sanral surreptitiously imposed e-tolls years ago, thinking it could bully motorists. Facile phrases are not law and will not solve the problem. A fuel levy would have covered the cost of the road improvements.

Inhabitants of Gauteng have no choice but to use the toll roads. Gauteng is the industrial and financial hub of SA and the taxes it raises benefit the whole country. The cost of improving Gauteng’s roads will be minimal if spread across the country, and the beneficiaries should pay.

Instead, Sanral installed gantries and cameras, computer systems, call centres and a violation processing centre at an enormous cost. Contracts and ongoing arrangements have been kept secret from the public. Since the end of the Zuma era the extent of the massive corruption set in motion by the ANC is beginning to emerge, and nobody can doubt that Sanral’s refusal to disclose full details of the beneficiaries of the e-toll system is because those arrangements are void.

What can a court decide — void, voidable or valid? Any decision will present a political problem, and the maxim “when in doubt, do nothing” will only make it worse.

John Price Via e-mail