ANC: E-tolls could cause public unrest

This was one of the concerns raised by Gauteng ANC during its submission to the e-tolls assessment panel.

The party’s Brian Hlongwe said they rejected urban tolling because it was not conducive to economic growth and development. Its chairperson, Paul Mashatile said government could not toll areas which were the core of economic activity.

However, it was not opposed to the user-pay system or the need to pay back the debt for the upgraded roads, but objected to the current model of the e-toll system. It added that the multi-billion rand project was too costly, and proposed an increase to the national fuel levy and vehicle licence fees as alternatives.

The Gauteng ANC was the last political party to make submissions to the e-toll review panel, which was set to present its findings to Gauteng Premier David Makhura at the end of November.

Last week, the DA and the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) made their submissions to the review panel, calling for the system to be scrapped.

In the DA’s submission, the opposition party outlined the impact of e-tolling on the province as a whole, emphasising the costs to motorists. The party argued that there was a shroud of secrecy surrounding the procurement, construction and operating costs of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

During the EFF’s submission, the party’s Julius Mdluli said government would be able to afford to meet the debt for road upgrades if it clamped down on corruption.

Meanwhile, during its submission, the Gauteng ANC refused to answer questions as to whether there was any collusion in the implementation of the e-tolling system.

ANC provincial secretary Hope Papo said the party could not make a public statement about the matter without all the facts.

“It has to be investigated whether there was any collusion or not,” he said.