The South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL) has confirmed the controversial e-tolling in Gauteng province is to begin within the next two months.
SANRAL said in a statement it is now waiting for the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) to finalise the bill and send it back to the National Assembly, which has passed the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill.
“Transport Minister Ben Martins will then announce the tariffs which will be followed by the necessary notice periods. That whole process will take about two months to complete. Thereafter e-tolling will start,” SANRAL’s head of communications Vusi Mona said.
The agency is encouraging Gauteng motorists to register for their e-tags in order to qualify for discounts and avoid a last minute rush. There have been approximately 600,000 e-tags registrations so far, and SANRAL said it was thankful to those who had registered.
“We have a responsibility to collectively build this country and are grateful that there are individual and corporate citizens who see the value of this project and are prepared to play their part in this regard,” SANRAL said.
Mona said there may be motorists who are hesitant to register because of the ongoing litigation around the project.
“Some motorists may be erroneously waiting for the appeal application by OUTA before they can consider registering. But that appeal has nothing to do with whether e-tolling should go ahead or not. That question was settled by the Constitutional Court last year when it set aside the interdict that prevented SANRAL from implementing e-tolling.”
Meanwhile, SANRAL has denied claims it is also set to implement e-tolling in Cape Town, saying the appointed concessionaire in Cape Town will have the responsibility of financing and maintaining new roads.
The leader of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) party in the NCOP has vowed to continue the fight against e-tolling within the council.
Also a member of parliament, Elza van Lingen said the DA in the NCOP is preparing for the fight against what her party feels is an unnecessary bill, and “will do as much as possible” to prevent e-tolling becoming law.
HumanIPO reported last month that five DA mayors in the Western Cape had vowed to fight against the implementation of e-tolling in the province.
