Ignore Sanral threats – Outa
JOBURG - Organisation Uniting against Tax Abuse (Outa) has called on the minority of motorists who are still paying their e-toll bills to ignore the threats and intimidation emanating from South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) and Electronic Toll Collection (ETC). He also challenged them to give serious thought as to why they are doing so.
Outa chairperson, Wayne Duvenage, highlighted the comments made last month by ETC outgoing chief operations officer, Mark Ridgway, who warned motorists that notifications of civil charges would be forthcoming to those who had not paid their e-toll debt.
“Three weeks have since passed and we are not aware of any summons or notices being served on an organisation or individual in this regard,” said Duvenage.
“However, as with many similar incidents of past rhetoric and threats by Sanral and ETC over the past two years – and more recently their collection agency, ITC Business Administrators – these intimidation tactics have been nothing but farcical and coercive attempts to get the public to pay a little more into their failed e-toll scheme’s coffers.”
He added that the scheme had always been an unworkable one which was introduced unlawfully. “Sanral can shout and advertise as much as they want about the lawfulness of their e-toll scheme, but this remains hot air against the backdrop of an extremely successful civil disobedience campaign which has left them unable to enforce their laws and regulations.”
Duvenage said the flip-flopping position on the e-toll matter by ANC politicians in Gauteng had been somewhat confusing. However, he said the Gauteng ANC chairperson, Paul Mashatile, had been quoted in a daily newspaper saying that e-tolls should not be forced down the throats of motorists, which Duvenage said was, at least, some semblance of rationality and reason being expressed by the authorities on the matter.
