Information regarding e-tolls from the Democratic Alliance Northways Branch
Now that two months has elapsed since the implementation of e-tolls on Gauteng highways on Dec 3, 2012, is the campaign against e-tolls working? Is there in fact any real ‘campaign’ – and does it have any chance of success against the imposition of e-tolls.
The answers are “Yes”,”Yes” and “Yes” .
YES – the campaign is working inasmuch as less than 20% of highway users remain untagged according to OUTA surveys.
YES – there is a campaign and it is being conducted on two levels – one being an informal level through social media, blogs etc (remember the ‘Arab Spring – that used the same modus operandi) and the other at a legalistic level with court cases scheduled which aim to challenge many aspects of the legality of e-tolls and the manner in which these have been implemented.
YES – there is a strong chance of success in defeating e-tolls, as long as the civic non-compliance which we have seen to date in terms of refusal to register or buy an e-tag continues at a high level. With at least 1 million motorists having refused to comply, this represents a very significant protest but more than that it creates massive problems to come for not only SANRAL but various elements of government in Gauteng and ultimately country wide..
It has now become clear that there are many, many serious deficiencies in the operation of e-tolls in respect of billing for gantry transactions. The data which SANRAL’s system relies on for billing is gathered from the e-NATIS system of motor vehicle and ownership records. This system in itself is far from correct in many instances. Thus billing errors are endemic to SANRAL’s system.
As of Mid-January 2014, OUTA’s research shows that of the approximately 2,3 million average Freeway users in Gauteng per month, some 25% are fitted with e-tags. This includes all the Government fleets, Car Rental and Leasing company fleets etc. This leaves about 1,7 million freeway users (75%) WITHOUT e-tags. All indications point to the bulk of people who intended to get e-tags, will have done so by now, with a small amount still begrudgingly getting tags out of fear and frustration with Sanral’s intimidation messages.
However, even if 25% of the currently un-tagged people pay or get tags, this still leaves well over ONE million people not paying. This in essence becomes an extremely successful rejection & defiance campaign against the system. The obvious question then becomes, can or will SANRAL (or the National Prosecuting Authority) practically set out to, or succeed in, criminalizing over ONE million citizens, or even 500,000 people for that matter. The answer is ‘extremely unlikely’. – See more at:
http://www.outa.co.za/site/e-tolls-to-tag-or-not-if-not-then-what/#sthash.3vwoNcAO.dpuf
WHAT IF YOU DON’T GET TAGGED AND DON’T PAY?
http://www.itssa.org/blog/2013/10/06/what-if-you-dont-pay-e-tolls/
It has been claimed by an advocate that the Gauteng court system, already struggling with deal with normal criminal and civil court cases, will find itself completely unable to also deal with further petty cases of toll-debt added to the existing court rolls. These cases could amount to possibly 1 million NEW cases each month! This number, or even 10% of this number will prove to be absolutely impossible for courts to deal with – and the backlog will grow with each month that passes – the end result is inevitably utter chaos and disruption of the courts and of the criminal justice system in particular – this represents a very serious threat!.
There is also, according to the legal profession the likelihood of a knock-on effect whereby the vastly increased delays in bringing important criminal and other cases to court will impinge drastically on the legal practitioners. Their functioning and livelihoods will be hindered seriously and it is very possible they will add their weight to the protests against the root cause of chaos – which is SANRAL!
WHAT IS TO BE DONE?
Chairman of Justice Project South Africa, Howard Dembovsky has said, “We believe that if enough people do not get an e-tag, the system will be too difficult to manage and it will eventually collapse.”.
We agree with that statement. The objective of deliberate non-compliance with SANRAL is to bring down an unjust system which cannot be tolerated for the detrimental effects it has on the personal finances of all citizens, particularly those to whom these toll fees represent a very real impact on their living standards, its inflationary effects, and its intent to export no less than approximately R700 million annually of citizens’ after-tax earnings to a foreign company! With a perfectly viable alternative method of collection, namely the existing Road Fund Levy on fuel, there is no possible rational reason to be using such a system as SANRAL’s. Clearly and given the intransigence of both SANRAL and it sole shareholder the SA Government, there are other compelling reasons which have not been revealed. SANRAL has to date even refused to reveal who are the several main and sub-contractors who will gain through the e-toll scheme – why?
“I certainly believe there will be a large number of the public who will refuse to pay and will elect to defend the matter in court,” Wayne Duvenage, OUTA head told BusinessTech.
“The first person found not-guilty will spark the end of the e-toll process and we believe this will be a possibility if tested in court. Social media communication platforms will ensure all incidents are shared and everyone is treated equally and fairly,” he said.
Local law firm, Findlay & Niemeyer made an offer in November 2012 of free legal representation, after roads agency Sanral’s warning to motorists to pay within seven days of receiving e-toll bills or be handed over to debt collectors.
“In defending the test case, we will act on a contingency basis in the sense that we will charge no fees to the client and call for no deposit,” the firm’s senior partner John Price said in a statement.
“The prospective test case client, and the basis of his or her complaint, would need to be carefully selected to ensure that the real toll road issues are put cogently before the court.”
Meanwhile our own mini-surveys indicate that people are receiving SMS’s and invoices for large amounts after the period since Dec. 3rd and having used the toll roads untagged – several people just in our own branch area report demands for over R3000 and more! SANRAL is deliberately and illegally using scare-tactics by claiming in the first SMS received. that people have been ‘handed over for collection’ to the “Violations Processing Centre” (VPC). These SMS’s are sent when one fails to pay with seven days, the unknown and unknowable amount allegedly due after passing under any toll gantry!
The VPC is in fact a SANRAL entity operated by one of the aforementioned shadowy contractors – they are using shoddy and illegal scare tactics hoping to convince their victims that a debt-collector is about to appear at their door with a court order – nothing could be further from the truth, as it will be some months before the first actions to recover debt from defaulters can take place – a summons has to be issued and a court date set, if defence is offered (it should be!) and as mentioned, as soon as this ultimate collection process starts you can rest assured that no court appearances will be possible for many months at first, extending rapidly into years! We find SANRAL’s tactics in this regard to be an extremely nasty, shoddy and immoral way to do business – it cannot be tolerated that they should continue to terrorise citizens in this manner!
Meanwhile for SANRAL, in such a scenario, catastrophe and failure is now staring them in the face – none of this, the physical real-world actions needed – is possible sustainable within their digitised business model, which relies for success, entirely and totally on instant, cheap and trouble free electronic debits against your money which is embedded in the e-tag like airtime in your cellphone!
We have seen a columnist in a local newspaper decrying the campaign led by OUTA against these tolls, on the grounds that we should all simply accept it and concern ourselves with the many other ‘more important’ societal concerns of South Africa – like housing, jobs, health, education, poverty … etc etc.
We say yes – and NO, for the simple reason that this issue above all others represents an issue about which we, the people of SA, can actually do something in practical terms and can stop one more abuse of the economically active citizens of this country. After all, without them, or in the event they too are impoverished by unjustified government actions, then what hope for any solution to the manifold other problems?
Democratic Alliance Northways Branch
References:
https://www.facebook.com/outasa
https://www.facebook.com/Against.Etoll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8mp4SQzrXJA