President Cyril Ramaphosa has taken charge of Gauteng’s e-toll headache, bringing hope that the impasse between motorists and the provincial government could soon be resolved.
In November 2017, motorists in the province owed R9.2bn. Motorists claim the funding model was not adequately canvassed and the levy will further impoverish poor workers.
Gauteng Premier David Makhura in February conceded that the highly contested e-tolls system was a failure. He said a new model was needed to fund road development.
This followed years of resistance to the multibillion-rand e-tolls project by civil organisations and motorists.
This is the second time Ramaphosa has taken charge of the crisis. In 2015 he was asked to intervene in the nonpayment saga. But his efforts did not yield much, as motorists and civic organisations continued to resist payment.
"The new dawn [of the Ramaphosa-led government] must also bring a solution to the protracted and unresolved problem of e-tolls," Makhura said during his state of the province address.
He said it was "loud and clear for all to see that e-tolls have not worked".
"The president has put in place a process that will deal with the issue of e-tolls and I am confident that we will find a solution that will satisfy all of us," Makhura said on Thursday.
"The process has started and the president himself is going to lead it. The [Aarto] Amendment Bill processes that are currently under way started a long time ago … long before the new dawn," said Makhura.
The amendment bill process started in 2013, with the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto) Amendment Bill 2013 and was passed by the National Assembly in September 2017.
On Thursday, Makhura sought to allay fresh fears that motorists would lose their licences over unpaid e-toll fines.
Reports suggested that the Aarto Amendment Bill would see motorists losing their driving licences over unpaid e-toll fines.
The DA in Gauteng recently said in a statement that even though not paying e-tolls was not a traffic infringement, it would count as disobeying a road sign under Aarto.
"This means that when the demerit system does come into effect, drivers risk losing one point each time they pass a gantry with an e-toll sign without paying. Furthermore, if a driver passes 12 gantries with an e-toll sign, they would lose 12 points in one day and could have their licence suspended for a year," Fred Nel, the DA’s spokesman for roads and transport, said on Monday.
He called on Makhura to speed up the engagement with Ramaphosa on e-tolls.
Productive meeting
Makhura said in a statement on Thursday that he met Ramaphosa last week to discuss e-tolls as promised.
The premier described the meeting as "productive".
Makhura urged residents not to panic and encouraged them to make their inputs during the public hearings regarding the Aarto Amendment Bill.
In 2015, when he was asked to intervene in the crisis while he was still deputy president, Ramaphosa cracked a deal that retained the e-toll system but not in its disputed form.
It reduced the standard tariff of 58c/km for light motor vehicles to 30c/km. A single tariff was to apply to all motorists in a vehicle class whether they had an e-tag or not.
Ramaphosa also negotiated a discount of 60% on outstanding e-toll fees. Motorists passing through the gantries fewer than 30 times a year would be exempt from paying.
Although this was a better deal, motorists still continued to resist payment.
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