On Monday, Gauteng premier David Makhura assured citizens that any new roads built in the province would not have e-tolls.
He also said a feasibility study on the expansion of the Gautrain had been completed.
The provincial government would not make the same mistakes as before on e-tolls, Makhura said.
"We are mobilising resources for public transport infrastructure in ways that will ensure we do not commit the same mistakes…. We can't build roads and only later inform citizens that they must pay. In fact, there will be no e-tolls on our new roads," he announced during his state of the province address in Randfontein, west of Johannesburg.
Makhura admitted that the advisory panel on the socioeconomic effect of e-tolls had provided no solution. "We tried our best. The ultimate solution can only come from national level," he said.
Gauteng motorists owe about R9.4bn in unpaid e-toll bills.
Recently, the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said it was seeking clarity from the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) on whether it intended to go ahead with civil and criminal cases against motorists.
The organisation said it understood Sanral was preparing to pursue judgments against some of the estimated 2.9-million Gauteng motorists who were not paying e-tolls.
Sanral has said it is important to get legal clarity given the conflicting information regarding the legality of tolling.
Outa was engaging with Sanral over a "test case" that could provide clarity regarding the liability of Gauteng motorists who owe the agency money for tolls.
On Monday, Makhura said the Gauteng government would continue to engage the government at national level to ensure residents’ interests were represented.
Gautrain
The new areas to be covered by the Gautrain will include Mamelodi in Pretoria, Boksburg on the Johannesburg East Rand, Randburg-Lenasia, Mogale City, Syferfontein on the West Rand and Roodepoort/Jabulani.
“This expansion will primarily be done on a public-private partnership basis, in phases that will take a period of two decades to complete,” Makhura said.
In other areas, the Passenger Rail Agency of SA (Prasa) is modernising rail infrastructure in Sedibeng, Ekurhuleni, Tshwane, the West Rand and Johannesburg, and these will ultimately be linked to the Gautrain rail network.
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