Don't buy e-tags, motorists urged
2012-10-02 22:27
Johannesburg - Motorists should not, under any circumstances, buy e-tags for the e-toll system, the Freedom Front Plus said on Tuesday.
"The fact is that the e-toll system is still not operational and that important legislation, which would make the paying of the e-tolls enforceable, is still outstanding," spokesperson Anton Alberts said.
Beeld reported that Transport Minister Ben Martins said consumers could go and buy their e-toll discs, as the department was busy concluding talks on the matter.
Speaking at the launch of National Transport Month in Soweto on Monday, Martins said more precise plans on the future of e-tolling would be made public at a media briefing on Friday.
Alberts said tariffs had not yet been published.
It was also important to note that the e-toll system's accounting system for non-holders of e-tags depended on the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, which was still not properly functioning.
"The majority of the notices and fines which are being issued in terms of Aarto, are not legal, such as the fines or notices which are being sent by ordinary post," he said.
"Therefore, payment notices for the use of the e-toll system by non-holders of e-tags will also be issued illegally and would be non-payable.
"For this reason... road users should not register for e-tags."
Martins declined to answer further questions on the issue, or to be drawn on when the government planned to start e-tolling.
On 20 September, the Constitutional Court set aside an interim interdict halting e-tolling on Gauteng's major roads, giving the SA National Roads Agency Limited the right to start the process.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance spokesperson Wayne Duvenage said on Monday that the review hearing of the e-tolling system would still take place in November.
He said motorists should wait for more clarity on the issue before purchasing e-tolling discs.
- SAPA
