After a 12-year long battle, at last a victory for Gauteng motorists and civil society at large.
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) confirmed that e-tolls will end on Thursday, 11 April 2024. According to a government gazette* signed off by the Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Gauteng Free Improvement Project (GFIP) will no longer be toll routes.
“This essentially means that the 2008 gazette that declared the upgraded Gauteng freeway network to be tolled roads, has now been reversed, and the ill-conceived e-toll scheme will be a thing of the past,” said the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) which was originally founded as “Opposition Against Urban Tolling Alliance” in 2012.
E-tolls have been a major thorn in the side of Gauteng motorists, with many refusing to pay their bills, which brought the system to its knees. OUTA opposed the e-toll scheme primarily because of
the lack of transparency;
lack of public consultation;
questions surrounding corruption; and
revenue generated from the scheme would largely be sent offshore, to the detriment of the South African public.
“Bad laws need to be treated in a manner that sends government back to the drawing board, and one such avenue is civil disobedience. Fortunately, the general motoring public stood strong and collapsed the system,” said OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage.
In the view of Mafube Business Forum (MBF), Mr. Duvenage and the OUTA team should be hailed as heroes for their steadfastness and patience. OUTA sets a fine example of how civil society can take on a powerful and arrogant, dishonest officialdom who are intent on self-enrichment, with scant regard for the rights of society.
MBF express our hope that those in power at local government who similarly alienate their communities with their disdainful, self-serving attitude, will learn from the e-toll saga.
* The Government Gazette of 28 March 2024 can be downloaded here:
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