Time to finally
get rid of E-Tolls.
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"Dear Ministers Mbalula and Godongwana
As a concerned citizen I urge you, and the government, to scrap funding for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) through e-tolls with immediate effect. The current model is onerous on motorists in the province who already contribute to state revenue through Personal Income Tax, VAT and, importantly, through the General Fuel Levy (GFL).
Consumers in South Africa are embattled and struggling to make ends meet; the cost of living is now higher than it has ever been and there is no more left to extract from citizens.
Through my signing of this petition, I am supporting calls on government to reconsider its allocation of state resources, and to rather allocate funding for the GFIP from existing revenue streams, such as ring-fencing a portion of the existing GFL for this purpose, and/or redirecting funds from, for instance, the huge salaries and bonusses paid to executives at poorly run State-Owned Enterprises.
I support the Automobile Association’s (AA) view that too much of government’s revenue is redirected incorrectly and for purposes other than the upliftment of our society. For this reason, I again urge you not to continue with e-tolls but to rather scrap the system, cancel all debt owed to it, and to reimburse those who have already paid. I believe this to be only equitable way forward. No alternative means of funding for the GFIP will work, and I will demonstrate my resistance of such systems through continued non-payment thereof.
Yours
(YOUR NAME)
(YOUR SIGNATURE)"
October deadline for e-tolls
After years of delays, government is finally expected to make an announcement on the way forward for e-tolls in Gauteng, during Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana’s Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in late October. The Automobile Association (AA) believes that, unless government terminates e-tolls, the system will continue to fail. The Association says government must also re-imburse those who have been paying all these years and cancel outstanding debt.
“Mr Godognwana is now best-placed to deal decisively with e-tolls and scrap the system once and for all. Continuing with e-tolls, in whatever form, will yield the same poor results and will further harden people’s views on a failing system,” says the AA.
E-tolls don’t work!
Since its introduction in December 2013, the payment of e-tolls for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) has been a contentious issue with many motorists in the province refusing the pay. The government should rather fund the GFIP through other means, possibly a ring-fencing of some of the revenue collected through the General Fuel Levy (GFL).
Funding models that do work
The AA’s 2019 Road Funding Report in which road funding models globally are examined is available at
https://aa.co.za/road-funding-report
Missed deadlines
“In our meeting with the Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula in August 2019, we communicated our findings that payment compliance is low, and that motorists in the province have taken a principled stance NOT to pay e-tolls. Mr Mbalula indicated at that meeting that a decision on e-tolls would be forthcoming the following March. This never materialised and several dates put forward by him to clarify the future of e-tolls have come and gone. In June 2022, Mr Mbalula indicated that Mr Godognwana would clarify the future e-tolls in his MTBPS, a date we trust will be kept,” says the AA.
Less than 18% of motorists pay e-tolls
The AA says the delays on e-tolls cause confusion and contribute to more people refusing to pay. It says it believes that people who continued to pay, have since stopped and reports now show payment compliance levels to be below 18%, less than half of the compliance rate of 40% in 2014.
Motorists are fed up
“If government keeps the current system in place, it is doomed to fail. Our position is clear: government must allocate funds from existing revenue channels, rather than continue to turn to already embattled motorists to finance the system. Motorists correctly question government spending in many areas including, huge salaries and bonuses to executives at poorly run SEOs, while they are being asked time and again to make contributions on top of the taxes they’re already paying,” notes the AA.
Sign the petition for change
The Association says it will continue to lobby for the termination of e-tolls through official channels. In addition, it has launched an online petition urging motorists in the province to add their voice to calls for the scrapping of e-tolls.
Join the conversation on
#JoinTheMovement
#SupportTheCause
#AAFightingForConsumerRights
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