Govt's move to scrap e-tolls 'forced on them', says OUTA
The announcement was made at a joint press briefing by the minister of transport, Gauteng Premier and CEO of the South African National Roads Agency.
FILE: An e-tolls gantry on the highway in Gauteng. Picture: Abigail Javier/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The CEO of the Organisation for Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), Wayne Duvenage, believes the government’s announcement to scrap e-tolls on Wednesday at a press briefing was nothing more than window-dressing.
The e-tolling system is set to go offline as of Friday morning.
The announcement was made at a joint press briefing by the Minister of Transport, Gauteng Premier and CEO of the South African National Roads Agency.
Duvenage believes the government failed to admit to its shortcomings related to e-tolls.
OUTA had been an instrumental voice over the years in calling for e-tolls to be scrapped.
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"They tried to claim this is a successful decision based on political reasons brought to society by the ruling party and the current government, well it’s not the case.
"This decision to scrap e-tolls was forced on them by the people who refused to participate in grossly irrational decisions that were uniformed and did not consult meaningfully with the public," said Duvenage.
He said instead of providing answers, the government posed more questions about what will happen going forward.
Meanwhile, the government has no plan to claw back debt incurred by e-toll users remain unclear.