Blade’s e-toll demands are ‘ANC about-turn, election ploy’

It’s election season, political parties are on the hunt for any signs of potential weakness and the Democratic Alliance (DA) may have found a crack in the ANC’s amour over that perennial pawn, the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, or e-tolls.

Gauteng premier David Makhura has consistently denounced e-tolls and, equally persistently, the project has refused to go away.

On August 31, Transport Minister Blade Nzimande said the e-toll discussion would not centre around public sentiment and appeared to put himself at cross-purposes with Makhura.

“This about-turn by the ANC shows that they are not serious about scrapping e-tolls and are merely using this as an election ploy to curry favour with voters,” said Tshwane mayor and DA Gauteng premier candidate Solly Msimanga.

“Recently, Gauteng premier David Makhura admitted that the e-toll issue was a major reason why the ANC did so poorly in the last national and provincial elections,” Msimanga said.

“It is time an alternative solution to e-tolls is found and that the premier explains why he and Minister Nzimande are singing two different tunes.”

Makhura’s spokesperson Thabo Masebe said: “One of the responsibilities of the minister of transport is to ensure Sanral works effectively.

“It would be understandable what he is saying. He is not saying we should not address the problem.”

ALSO READ: Blade can’t use e-tolls to fund Sanral debt – Outa

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.