Scrap e-tolls in SA says DA

The fact that the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has only managed to collect R687.7 million in e-tolls for the 2018/19 financial year compared to the previous year when they were able to collect R1.87 billion again shows that e-tolls are not working and should be scrapped, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said on Sunday.

"This information was revealed in Sanral’s integrated annual report, which also indicated that the entity raised an impairment of R10.04 billion on its total e-toll trade," DA Gauteng shadow MEC for roads and transport Fred Nel said in a statement.

Motorists in Gauteng had refused to pay for e-tolls since it was implemented in 2013. It was high-time that a solution was found to e-tolls in Gauteng, he said.

At the end of August, Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula was supposed to make an announcement regarding e-tolls, but instead asked for extra time to consult with all stakeholders on the matter.

"A month has now passed, and we are still waiting to hear what the solution to e-tolls will be. The DA has been against the implementation of e-tolls as it is an unfair tax burden on our residents who are struggling to make ends meet," Nel said.

If no solution was found to e-tolls, then Sanral would see a further decrease in the collection of e-toll debt. e-Tolls should be scrapped sooner rather than later. The DA would continue to put pressure on Gauteng premier David Makhura to lodge an intergovernmental dispute on e-tolls and instead use the fuel levy to replace e-tolls and not bail out state-owned enterprises (SoEs), he said.

This story was originally written by the African News Agency