E-toll panel to hold consultations
JOBURG – Residents and organisations in Gauteng will finally be able to have their say about the province’s controversial e-tolling system.
The panel appointed to assess the impact of e-tolling in Gauteng is set to begin consultations with various stakeholders and interested parties this month.
“The panel will hold consultations with key role players and interested parties from across the length and breadth of Gauteng, including government, state owned enterprises, organised labour, business, civil society formations and the public,” Gauteng provincial government spokesperson Thabo Masebe said in a statement.
The panel will begin the hearings on 25 August.
Representations from labour organisations would be heard on 26 and 27 August and businesses on 28 and 29 August, while consultations with civil society would be held from 1 to 3 September, information and knowledge institutions on 4 September, and transport organisations on 8 and 9 September.
Any organisation that wished to make a submission to the panel should make a request in writing to the panel’s secretary, Masebe said.
Requests can be sent to the Secretary of the E-tolls Advisory Panel, 30 Simmonds Street, Johannesburg, 2107 or emailed to etollspanel@gauteng.gov.za
The panel will also hold public meetings in Joburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Sedibeng and the West Rand in September.
A notice providing details of the public meetings and the call for written submissions will be published on August 31, Masebe said.
In early October 2014, the panel will meet with political parties represented in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, he added.
The panel, which was established by Premier David Makhura, was tasked with conducting a comprehensive assessment of the socio-economic impact of e-tolls.
The panel will present monthly reports, and a final report and recommendations to Makhura by 30 November.
