Minister Mbalula and Premier Makhura must come clean about the true state of e-Tolls in Gauteng

It is high time that once and for all, the Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula and Premier David Makhura come clean about the future of e-Tolls in Gauteng. 

Earlier this week, the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), once again put out a tender for new contractors to manage the Gauteng e-Tolling system. 

According to the tender document a contractor is needed for the next six to eight years to run the open road tolling system in the province. 

This indicates that e-Tolls will not be scrapped anytime soon, and Gauteng residents have just been strung along by the Minister of Transport and Premier Makhura. 

Since its inception in 2013, the residents of this province have been against e-Tolls as it was a system that was imposed on them without due process being followed. 

The rise in inflation and the cost of basic necessities is putting a huge strain on our residents and now, added to this, they need to pay for e-Tolls. 

The DA is once again demanding that all the proposed plans for e-Tolls in this province be shared with the public so that they know exactly what will happen with this unwanted system.

 

Gauteng residents continue to be strung along by the Minister of Transport on e-Tolls

Minister ‘String-a long’ Mbalula has once again moved the goal posts for the scrapping of e-Tolls in Gauteng. The residents of this province will not be getting any relief from having to pay for a system they did not agree to in the first place.

Earlier this week, he announced that Gauteng residents now have to wait a bit longer before a concrete decision will be made on the future of e-Tolls. For a long time now, the Minister of Transport has been kicking the can down the road on this issue and strung Gauteng residents along, giving them false hope that e-Tolls would be eradicated.

Since 2018, the people of Gauteng have been made numerous promises that e-Tolls will be scrapped, and a task team had been set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look into this matter.

It is unacceptable that this matter has been dragging on for so long and places a huge burden on our residents who are struggling to afford basic goods and services due to the high costs.

The DA demands that a decision be taken once and for all on this matter as it is not feasible to have the e-Tolling system in place. Furthermore, the DA calls on the MEC for Roads and Transport, Jacob Mamabolo to share the proposals the Gauteng government made to the Minister of Transport on the funding of the e-Toll system.

The DA will continue to put pressure on the government to ensure that when projects have been undertaken that place a financial burden on the residents of the province, proper public engagement takes place so that we do not have a repeat of the e-Toll saga.

400 000 Gauteng motorists will be without valid licenses by end March

The capacity to issue sufficient renewed driver’s licenses in Gauteng is not enough to eradicate the renewal backlog caused by Covid-19.

During the lockdown in 2020 motorists were not able to renew their driver’s licenses and two extensions were granted to renew licenses.

The final deadline for the renewal of licenses that expired during the lockdown period is 31 March 2022.

The Gauteng Department of Roads and Transport has a capacity to renew 173000 licenses monthly. By the end February we calculated the backlog to be around 423 000 licenses that had yet to be renewed in addition to current licenses that will expire.

Apart from the constrained capacity to renew licenses in Gauteng, licensing centres were also forced to close down for a week after the National Driving School Association South Africa protested against the online driver license booking system and forcibly blocking entrance to Driver’s License Testing Centres (DLTC).

It is estimated that 400 00 Gauteng motorists are likely to be faced with a crisis by the end March as they will be unable to renew their driver’s licenses and will face fines for driving without a valid driver license card. This could also impact on their vehicle insurance.

The introduction of more online transactional services by the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) can assist in alleviating the pressure on DLTCs in Gauteng and relieve pressure on the bottlenecks experienced at DLTCs.

However this will not be enough to make the 31 March deadline.

We call on the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, to provide one last extension for the validity of licenses that expired during Covid-19 so that Gauteng can deal with its backlog.

DA welcomes extension for renewal of driver’s licences

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is ecstatic that our continuous pressure has resulted in the Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula extending the deadline to the end of March 2022 for the renewal of vehicle licences that expired during the 2020 lockdown. 

This means that motorists who could not get slots to renew their licences are now able to remain legally on the road.  

While an extension has been granted, we are calling on motorists to still renew their licences as speedily as possible and not wait until the last minute to do so.  

We will continue to exert pressure on government to increase the capacity at licensing centres so that more motorists can be assisted with renewing their licences.  

Local Government Elections are coming up! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status. 

Gauteng motorists bleeding more of their money as Mbalula evades e-Toll decision

Gauteng motorists and consumers are still burdened by the unwanted e-Tolls system that increases the cost of doing business in Gauteng as well as that of consumer goods. Considering the damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and government lockdowns, Gauteng residents need all the help they can get to get by and survive. Scrapping e-Tolls will be a step in the right direction.

The Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, has strung along motorists and consumers in the province since February this year, promising imminent announcements on the future of e-Tolls no less than four times. The last time he made this promise was in May.

It is almost two months since his last deadline of making an announcement and not a peep has been heard from the Minister. Each time he points a finger to Cabinet who needs to make the final decision.

It is clear that Mbalula cannot get an agreement from Cabinet and that he is clearly at loggerheads with his colleagues who seem to be concerned about the cost of scrapping the system.

Mbalula can no longer evade responsibility on e-Tolls and his delaying tactics is causing more suspicion about the government’s intentions to scrap the system. The ANC government is clearly playing for time as the announcement may make things uncomfortable for them on 27 October when the local government elections are scheduled to take place. They clearly do not want to make their decision known before then.

The DA has been at the forefront opposing the e-toll system in Gauteng and we will continue with our campaign to pressurize Mbalula and Cabinet for a decision. I will be working with my colleagues in Parliament to call the government to account on e-Tolls so that we can get a resolution on the matter once and for all.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Debt forgiveness must also be a part of scrapping e-Tolls in Gauteng

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the National Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula to include writing off the e-Toll debt in his announcement when he makes a decision about the future of e-Tolls in Gauteng.

Many residents in the province have not paid their e-Tolls as they are unable to afford this extra burden that was placed on them by the Gauteng Provincial Government (GPG).

This added expense has led to dissonance from the public and has proved to be a loss in revenue for the South African National Roads Agency.

For more than a year now, the GPG, as well as National Government have made countless promises on an announcement regarding the future of e-Tolls in the province.

The DA hopes that an announcement on this matter is made soon as residents cannot be billed any longer for a system, they did not want in the first place.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

MEC Mamabolo must stop holding out false hope on e-Tolls

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is calling on the MEC for Transport, Jacob Mamabolo, to stop causing confusion about the future of e-Tolls. The comments he made during an interview with SAFM this morning that e-Tolls have been scrapped in the province, has caused false hope, where he was subsequently forced to clarify his confusing comments.

This has caused unnecessary confusion, considering that the National Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula, was supposed to make an announcement last week, but was still in talks with the task team that was set up by President Cyril Ramaphosa to look at the e-Toll issue and possible solution in the province.

For a long time, we have been putting pressure on the ANC-led government to scrap e-Tolls as it is an unfair burden on the residents of this province who cannot afford to pay for something they were not consulted on.

If e-Tolls have indeed been scrapped, the DA welcomes this but it appears as if the MEC has spoken out of turn. On several occasions, ANC leaders have been using this as an electioneering tool which is unacceptable, giving our residents false hope.

We urge politicians and political heads to refrain from making irresponsible statements about e-Tolls as it affects our livelihoods.

The announcement still rests with Minister Mbalula. We hope the MEC’s confirmation was not premature and that he indeed shares the views of Minister Mbalula.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Residents lose more of their hard-earned salaries, as another promised announcement on e-Tolls passes

It is clear that the ANC-led government has no intention to get rid of e-Tolls in the province, despite numerous promises by Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula, that an announcement would have been made on the matter by Friday last week. Our residents have clearly indicated to government that they cannot afford the unnecessary burden of e-Tolls as they are already struggling to make ends meet. This has been made worse with the Covid-19 pandemic which has seen the price of basics foods and petrol continue to rise.

On 6th May 2021 Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula announced that a decision on e-Tolls will be made within two weeks. The two weeks have now come and gone, and he has once again kicked the can down the road, while our residents are made to pay for something they did not agree to in the first place.

There even seems to be no willing enthusiasm by the ANC in Gauteng, who voted against a DA motion calling for the total scrapping of e-Tolls in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature last Tuesday. While we as the DA are concerned about saving livelihoods and boosting the economy for the benefit of millions of our residents and commuters, the ANC continue to be hellbent on milking the same commuters dry, while also turning law abiding citizens into criminals.

It is further clear that the Gauteng Provincial Government has no intention of declaring an intergovernmental dispute on this matter even though it is clear that Minister Mbalula is just spewing empty promises on this issue.

The DA will continue to push for the debate on e-Tolls to go ahead in the National Council of Provinces so that residents can finally be relieved of the unfair curse of paying for e-Tolls.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

More promises from Mbalula on e-Tolls yet Gauteng residents struggle to make ends meet

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng notes the comments by National Transport Minister, Fikile Mbalula that an announcement will be made on e-Tolls in the province in the next two weeks.

This promise is nothing new and we have heard similar undertakings before from Minister Mbalula which has come to naught.

The DA has for the longest time said that e-Tolls are an unfair burden on the residents of Gauteng who are already struggling to make ends meet.

It is important now more than ever that a decision is finally made on e-Tolls as the cost of basic food and petrol has gone up over the last year, putting further pressure on residents who have been negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

An announcement on the future of e-Tolls was supposed to have been made last month, but according to the Minister of Transport, this could not happen because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

We sincerely hope that Mbalula sticks to his promise this time as residents have been forced to pay for something that they did not agree to in the first place.

The DA will continue to put pressure on Premier David Makhura to lodge an intergovernmental dispute on the matter as this has been an issue since the implementation of e-Tolls in 2013.

Local Government Elections are coming up in 2021! Visit check.da.org.za to check your voter registration status.

Mbalula breaks e-Toll promise again, Makhura must lodge intergovernmental dispute

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng is not surprised that Minister of Transport, Fikile Mbalula has yet again failed to announce a resolution on e-Tolls in the province.

Last month, Mbalula announced that a final decision on e-Tolls would be made at the end of the current financial year which ends today, with not a single word from “Mr Fix It”.

The DA will be writing to Gauteng Premier, David Makhura, urging him to lodge an intergovernmental dispute with the National Department of Transport for the urgent scrapping of e-Tolls. For the past 18 months, Mbalula has been continuously kicking this can down the road. It is clear that it is just another political ploy to further delay the matter.

Given the recent announcements that all toll fees would soon increase, despite the desperate state of the economy and the subsequent damage to livelihoods during the strict Covid-19 lockdown, it is even more important to get rid of e-Tolls as soon as possible.

For too long the residents of this province have been bankrolling something they were not consulted on and cannot afford. The people of Gauteng must no longer be burdened by this unworkable system.