\u201cToday Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa is expected to announce more ways to pay for e-tolls, instead of scrapping them altogether \u2013 despite the fact that less and less road users are willing to pay for this unfair and unjust system,\u201d said John Moodey MPL DA Gauteng provincial leader.<\/p>\n
According to the National Department of Transport, since January there has been a dramatic drop in the number of people registering for e-tolls, as well as a steady decline in revenue collected.<\/p>
\u201cThis disproves the assertion by Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the e-toll review panel that people are not fundamentally opposed to paying tolls on Gauteng\u2019s highways.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople are feeling the financial crunch of increases in municipal rates, electricity, petrol and income tax, and are simply not willing or able to pay e-tolls,\u201d said Moodey.<\/p>
\u201cInstead of scrapping e-tolls altogether, the response is to introduce stealth methods hidden in licensing and other fees to force people to pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact is that the e-tolls system does not have the ability to cope and deal with debt collection, and the introduction of the hybrid model will further complicate an unsustainable system.\u201d<\/p>\n
He added that while the economies of Gauteng and the country are reeling from the effects, and unemployment spirals out of control, Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa and Gauteng Premier David Makhura are standing at a crossroad today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey could act in the interests of the poor and working class by scrapping e-tolls altogether, or open a Pandora\u2019s Box of civil disobedience and non-compliance on a scale never seen before,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
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