Cautiously Optimistic

The announcement by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa last week of a new dispensation for e-tolls has elicited all kinds of responses. Predictably, those in organised civil society who have always been opposed to e-tolls have dug in their heels. One gets the sense that even if the tariffs were to be reduced to 2c a kilometre and the government gave motorists half their trips free of charge, they would still be opposed to e-tolling. For them, it is a matter of principle and/or showing the government that it cannot impose its will on them. The anti-toll advocates have hordes of the social media constituency. Commentary in social media about this subject is overwhelmingly against e-tolling. There are a few government officials, economists, social commentators and politicians from the ruling party who have welcomed the new dispensation.

I have differed with this group in the past on this subject but I will credit them for having moved their position from what was seemingly their absolute belief in the correctness of the original form of e-tolling to one that has now been modified. There is a danger of being dogmatic about issues when a person or a group does not leave open a possibility that they may - however little the margin - be wrong in their thinking. And this, I feel, has characterised the debate from day one. There was a time when Sanral came across as though there could not possibly be anything wrong with e-tolling - even in the face of billing problems.

of course, opponents to e-tolling have perfected the art; their criticism of the new dispensation for e-tolls could not possibly be flawed... so we are made to believe. But we know that things are not as simple as that. When the pendulum swings to either extreme, often the truth or solution is somewhere in the middle. It is common knowledge that the announcement of the new dispensation followed months of discussion after Premier David Makhura initiated a process to assess the socio-economic impact of e-tolling in Gauteng. It is common knowledge that if there is one matter that has caused a lof of societal aggravation in Gauteng, it is e-tolling. The governement could not afford to play oblivious and not respond to the concerns raised by the people of Gauteng.

In this regard, Makhura must be commended for having listened to Gauteng residents - through the e-toll advisory panel he appointed last year - and taken up their concerns with the national government. Overall, one is pleased with the package presented by Ramaphosa. Critically, I welcome the extension of the low e-tag tariff to all, the 50 percent reduction in monthly caps for most vehicle classes and the 60 percent discount on outstanding debt. That should bring a lot of relief to owners of light motor vehicles who use these to commute to and form work using the tolled highways. Be that as it may, one hopes the government and its implementing agencies have learnt their lessons from the e-toll debacle.

The e-toll fiasco should teach the authorities how not to do things when implementing projects like this. Gone are the days when the government does projects for the people. It must do projects with the people. Citizens must be taken along, engaged and made to feel their views matter. Unfortunately, that came much later when the Gauteng premier did what the then-authorities should have done before and as the project was unfolding. Given the billing and administrative challenges that characterised e-tolling in the past, one welcomes the announced new dispensation with caution. The Department of Transport together with its agency Sanral must ensure the new package is implemented without the glitches and administrative blunders of the past.

But the issue of e-tolls raises another big one that is looming on the horizon - that of payment for services and the funding of infrastructure in general. We have already seen this issue blowing up into the open with regard to Eskom and some residents in Soweto. The latter are demanding a flat rate for their electricity consumption. There does seem to be little, if any, appreciation in our country of the connection between payment for services and continued existence and maintenance of our infrastructure. Unless this appreciation is enhanced, and citizens are actively engaged on how infratructure is funded and why certain services must be paid for, South Africa may be in for a very rocky ride as it rolls out big infrastructure projects.