‘E-toll saga highlights government confusion’

The road freight industry may be applauding the e-tolling victory on Gauteng’s roads, but the political machinations over the past few months do not bode well for the country, said political commentator Justice Malala. Speaking at the Road Freight Association conference in KwaZulu-Natal last week, he said mixed messages had been sent by government during the entire saga. Cosatu and the ANC were meeting at the same time as a High Court was placing an interdict on the tolls, while the South African National Roads Agency Ltd was arguing that it could not afford one more day of postponement. “Sanral was in court saying that the tolls could not be put on hold as the country could not afford such a measure, while at the same time Gwede Mantashe was meeting with Cosatu and saying they were postponing the entire implementation for further negotiations,” said Malala. “What do we take from this when we have government as Treasury and Sanral not agreeing with what the ANC is saying? It essentially says government does not know what it is doing and creates uncertainty.” Malala called on the delegates at the conference to take a moment to consider the implications of what it means when there is policy uncertainty. “As business you cannot plan because you don’t know what government is going to do tomorrow. If government flip-flops, we can have no expectations and that means no business strategy. While the e-tolls were a victory for the people, it also brought some serious concern around the politics of the country.” He said the decision by Sanral CEO Nazir Alli to resign added to the uncertainty.