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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.

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Was Freedom Day Weekend The Tipping Point?

Slaughter on South African Roads

While KZN registered the highest number of over 330 deaths, Gauteng was shamefully a close second.

Is it too much to expect that the national Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, and the Provincial authorities have finally been prompted to action by last weekend’s unprecedented slaughter on South African roads?

Over a month ago, after the annual Easter road carnage, Minister Dipuo Peters, surprised everyone by proposing a “name and shame” campaign to improve motorist behaviour.

The irony is that this government stopped an identical and significantly successful campaign in the Western Cape.

She is also reported to have undertaken to investigate the possibility of meaningful mandatory penalties, including prison, for serial road offenders.

Road Motor Traffic Corporation

Unfortunately, while the principle is sound and the DA has consistently been urging serious consequences for dangerous driving, the Minister will in all likelihood leave the matter in the hands of the Road Motor Traffic Corporation, notorious for its inaction and chaotic management.

Very little is likely to be achieved when there is no sense that the present crisis situation calls for bold and no doubt unpopular measures.

Provinces can help to spark action, in particular Gauteng, with the country’s biggest vehicle population.

We call on Premier David Makhura and the Transport MEC, Ismail Vadi, to claim the initiative and begin the process to overhaul Provincial legislation and criminal procedure processes and to demonstrate real intent to stop this anarchy on our roads to the nation.

 

Media Enquiries:

Justus de Goede MPL

DA Gauteng Spokesperson on Transportation

060 558 8305

[Image source]

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MEC Vadi Must Restrain From Ambiguous Statements Passed as Fact

Misleading Quotes

Misleading quotes by Gauteng MEC for Roads and Transport, Ismail Vadi, stating that the law does not allow for the subsidisation of taxis must not go unchallenged.

Vadi, who sits on the Ministerial-MEC Committee for Transport, is in a position to advise the often uninformed Minister of Transport, Dipuo Peters, on matters of both provincial and national importance regarding transport.

Necessary Legislative Steps

Whilst the debate on whether the taxi industry should be subsidised must still take place, the MEC cannot state that the law will not allow this.

Constitutionally there is no right to not subsides them, nor are they precluded.  It would require someone taking the issue through the necessary legislative steps –nothing more or less.

Whether the taxi industry deserves these subsidies and has the technical ability to apply them must still be debated by a multi-party forum. Freedom to operate, fairness in awarding state subsidies and opportunities to all role players must take precedence.

 

Media enquiries:

Neil Campbell MPL

DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Roads and Transport

082 387 2540

[Image source]