DA tables amendments to the SANRAL Act to ensure check and balances in building tolls
13 July 2016
The DA will soon table a Private Members Bill (PMB) that seeks to amend the SANRAL Act in order introduce essential checks and balances before the construction of tolls can commence.
This is a critical intervention to prevent the re-occurrence of the imposed E-tolls project by SANRAL, with the support of the ANC government, on the residents of Gauteng, which was done without their support, and without adequate public participation.
The impact of the E-tolls, especially those who are poor, has been immense. It has hurt the Gauteng economy, placed an even greater burden on residents during difficult economic times, and undermined job creation.
This dictatorial approach to tolling cannot be allowed to repeat itself again. To this end, in addition to the required public consultation which is prescribed, the DA’s PMB will require:
- That a proposal for tolling is submitted to the relevant provincial legislature and receive a majority vote in favor of it before any further steps are taken;
- That the relevant municipal council be consulted again after the vote regarding the proposed toll;
- That an alternative route needs to be made available and maintained, so that commuters are not forced to pay if they do not wish to.
The huge public dissatisfaction in Gauteng e-tolls project resulted in the Provincial Government holding a commission of inquiry into the implementation of the E-tolls system at a further cost to the public. This could have been avoided if the current legislation had further checks and balances as we have proposed in our Bill.
This Bill, which facilitates consultation, democratic involvement and transparency, will go a long way in ensuring that job-killing tolling decisions are taken again in future.
We urge the ANC to come out in support of our Bill, and help prevent a repeat of their damaging decisions in support of tolling.
Issued by Manny de Freitas, DA Shadow Minister of Transport, 13 July 2016
