SANRAL loses bid to toll Western Cape highways: Time to scrap Gauteng’s e-tolls

 

Toll Victory

The Western Cape High Court this morning ruled against SANRAL’s attempts to toll Western Cape highways, and the DA calls on Premier David Makhura and the ANC to finally scrap e-tolls in Gauteng.

What has happened in the Western Cape, must now happen here in Gauteng.

It is widely known, and accepted by the ANC, that e-tolls have been denying the poor access to jobs and have a detrimental effect on working class people, a fact which has now been recognised by the court.

The new e-toll dispensation is nothing but a red herring to force people to pay for an unjust and unfair system, and will continue to be met with public resistance in the years ahead.

Fuel Levy

Instead, the entire project could have been financed through a small ring-fenced increase in the fuel levy from 2008, and in the process building up reserves for future upgrades to Gauteng’s highways.

South Africa’s economic health depends on that of Gauteng, and e-tolls is a virus slowly eating away this province’s prospects for economic growth and job creation.

If Gauteng fails, South Africa fails, and e-tolls is one burden too many.

Media enquiries:

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

082 960 3743

Will Parks Tau Really Defy the ANC on e-Tolls?

Unjust Exploitation of Road Users

Johannesburg Mayor Parks Tau, by publicly stating his opposition to e-Tolling of Johannesburg’s roads, has taken a bold step in going against national and provincial ANC policy by speaking out against this unjust exploitation of road users.

According to reports, Mayor Tau spoke at the Nedbank-New Partnership for Africa’s Development conference, and made it emphatically clear that the proposed second phase e-toll routes would not be sustainable, as no adequate and viable alternative public transport was in place.

Other than the cumbersome administration and operational costs, this is a point not only made by the DA, but every study conducted into the feasibility of this project.

Gauteng Premier David Makhura

It is heartening however that Mayor Tau is willing to break rank with the ANC and choose to put the people of his city and this province first.

The question is of course whether he can stick to his word, unlike Gauteng Premier David Makhura, who betrayed the people of Gauteng and buckled under pressure from the national ANC.

 

Media enquiries:

John Moodey MPL

DA Gauteng Provincial Leader

082 960 3743

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