Final decision to be made public after Sona
A FINAL decision on the future of e-tolls in Gauteng will be made public before or after the State of the Nation Address (Sona), Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula has said.
Mbalula was reacting to the latest allegations by the DA in Gauteng that the ANC government was mum about the future of e-tolls despite promises that it would “eradicate them”.
“The issue of e-tolls is still before the Cabinet. An announcement will be made either before or after the State of the Nation Address,” Mbalula said.
DA spokesperson on transport Fred Nel said his party was “deeply concerned” about the delay in making the announcement.
“The ANC government can no longer be trusted in handling the e-toll matter as they seem to be unable to come to an agreement among themselves.
Various leaders in the ANC and in government have made conflicting statements and promises and yet nothing has materialised.
“This indecisiveness has resulted in the extension of the e-toll contract, which expired at the start of December last year, for another three months,” Nel said.
He said the ANC government had missed yet another opportunity to scrap e-tolls, because it was unable to come up with a tangible solution.
“Gauteng residents cannot be fooled by these delaying tactics that have a huge impact on their pockets.
“For the longest time the DA has been against e-tolls as they negatively impact residents of Gauteng.
“We have proposed that a portion of the fuel levy be used to pay for e-tolls, but instead it’s now being used to bail out failing state-owned enterprises,” Nel said.
He said the DA would continue to put pressure on the ANC government to scrap e-tolls.
In October last year, Mbalula said his task team had presented several options to the Cabinet but did not divulge the nature and content of their presentation.
“Cabinet noted the options considered by the task team and resolved that further work be undertaken in answering to the challenges posed by the options identified,” Mbalula said.
He said the team would explore the directives of the Cabinet and continue to engage interested parties and report back.
At the time, Cosatu in Gauteng was adamant that the e-tolls should be scrapped.
Its Gauteng chairperson, Amos Monyela, called on motorists to continue boycotting payment of e-tolls.
“E-tolls are eight years old. People have been refusing to pay for them. As Cosatu, we say, motorists must continue to defy the payment of them,” Monyela said.