Johannesburg – Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba is powerless to put a stop to e-tolls in Gauteng.
The only way to end the system would be to vote the DA into power nationally, he said in an interview on Wednesday.
“That is why I will work towards 2019, with Mmusi Maimane taking over the country so that it can be dealt with at that level,” he said.
He signed pledges to put an end to the system, during campaigning for the August 3 local government elections.
He was voted into office on Monday, defeating the ANC’s candidate Park Tau with 144 votes to 125 at a council meeting in Johannesburg.
He said Johannesburg metro police should stop helping the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to check if motorists had e-tags.
“On Friday, when I appoint the person to deal with safety I will give an instruction to JMPD that it should not be used by anyone to harass our residents on behalf of Sanral.”
The Citizen reported in May 2014 that Sanral denied working with metro police. Metro police spokesperson Chief Superintendent Wayne Minnaar said it was not their job to see if motorists had the tags.
Mashaba is expected to announce his mayoral committee on Friday.
