The sudden cancellation of the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) May 13 debate on the e-toll scheme in parliament has left the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) unsurprised and perplexed, says CEO Wayne Duvenage.
“We are unsurprised because the indecisiveness is relentless and perplexed because we can’t understand why Parliament is even debating the future of the defunct scheme in the first place,” he added.
“The e-toll matter has certainly not received the attention it deserves, given the ongoing operating costs to manage the defunct scheme. This is financed by a handful of businesses and citizens who make up the last approximately 15% of motorists who remain reluctantly compliant.”
Duvenage said that Aarto was another issue of concern.
“Why is the minister of transport not engaging more meaningfully with civil society when it comes to input that could make a meaningful impact on matters such as the looming failure of the Aarto system, the lack of transparency within Sanral, and the worsening crisis around the renewal of drivers’ licences?”
Duvenage believes the current lack of service delivery by the Department of Transport is unacceptable. “Outa has suggested that licences should be valid for ten years instead of five, something that will help alleviate problems and is an acceptable practice in many countries around the world. We had no feedback on this suggestion, but instead read in newspaper reports that Minister Mbalula’s department was considering a new licence card system to be introduced in the next year.”