Pressure on Gauteng government to clarify if motorists will be reimbursed for e-tolls

With the fuel price hike an additional burden for already stretched consumers, pressure is mounting for the Gauteng government to provide clarity on whether motorists will be refunded following the scrapping of e-tolls.

Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana tabled the Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in Parliament last week, ending years of debate about the controversial tolling system.

Godongwana said the government would take over billions of the South African National Roads Agency’s debt.

But cash-strapped residents are asking whether reimbursement is on the cards.

There has been mixed reaction from Gauteng residents on whether motorists who have been diligent in paying their bills will be compensated.

“Yes, they should get a refund because it wouldn’t be fair and equal to the people paying,” one resident said.

“I don’t think people should get compensated or reimbursed for the e-tolls money. I think that they should use the money for road works because there are so many potholes,” a second resident said.

“No, they decided to pay. I don’t think they must be compensated,” another resident said.

The AA’s Layton Beard said that e-tolls had been met with resistance from road users since its inception in 2013.

“Citizens who’ve done the right thing and paid this, they need to be compensated and their monies returned to them, especially given the fact that the system failed and it’s unfair to expect the people that have been paying for a failed system do not have any recourse to get that money back.”

There are still questions about the exact amount the Gauteng provincial government will have to pay to settle its 30% portion of the debt of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement following the agreement it reached with Treasury.

-EWN

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