Just one minor problem – I have not registered for an e-toll, so how did they get my cellular phone’s number? I posed this question to the operator and was told e-toll has full access to the eNatis system. This means the e-toll gangsters have access to your contact numbers, address, everything.
Now, I was not terribly upset about getting an sms stating I owe them money. I mean, paying for the e-toll is now part of the law of our country. Where else will JZ get the money to finish building his ‘fire pool’ at Nkandla?
I politely asked the consultant on the other end of the phone for an invoice – a legal requirement in order to prove that someone owes you money. I am still waiting for said invoice. Meanwhile, I was notified of the fact that my ‘bill’ has been handed over to debt collectors.
So here’s my question – how can you hand someone over for debt collection before you have notified them of an outstanding amount? In my case, should I get a summons to go to court, I will go. You see Scamral, I have the law on my side here. I received no prior notification of an outstanding amount, nor did I receive an invoice – even after requesting one. The other thing I asked for was photographic evidence proving it was one of my vehicles that passed under the gantry. I wait with baited breath to see if that will ever arrive.
So to the gangsters and thugs working the e-toll system, you have failed to prove that I owe you money. Yes, the burden of proof lies upon you to show me the evidence – evidence which I am fully entitled to ask for before paying. I have not refused payment, I have simply asked for the proof. Without providing said proof, you will not have a leg to stand on in court, and you will spend considerably more on your legal fees than the paltry R65 I owe you.
So let the games begin for 2014 – I don’t think I am the only one who is going to demand solid evidence before paying. Which means many more columns about the ongoing activities of Scamral and its e-troll system.
Other than that, being my first column of the new year, I don’t have much to report on, except for the wonderful ‘explanations’ regarding the upgrades and buildings at Nkandla. Come on, a ‘fire pool’, a chicken run to ‘protect’ against intruders and don’t forget, it is not an amphitheatre, it is simply stepped blocks which move downwards to keep the land from sliding away. The fact that there is a stage at the bottom of these ‘earthworks’ is merely a coincidence, right? And by stage I mean a perfectly level piece of ground in the acoustic bulls eye of the ‘earthworks’. Yes Mr President, we the people are indeed that stupid to believe these excuses.
The elections this year should also provide us with some mirth, I must admit I am eager to see what drivel will be sprouted from the various political parties in an effort to secure more votes. How many souls will be sold to the devil this year, I wonder?
Let us look back to 2013 and identify our mistakes and learn from them. Let us try not to repeat them in 2014. And above all else my dear readers, please don’t forget to use your fire pools this summer to ward off the heat. And don’t forget protection. From the sun, that is.