The office of Gauteng premier David Makhura on Tuesday denied a report in the Sowetan stating that Makhura had announced the e-tolling system in the province would be scrapped.
“The story is completely wrong,” said Makhura’s spokesman, Thabo Masebe.
He stood by what the premier had said during the state of the province address in the legislature on Monday.
“There is nowhere that we spoke of replacing the tolls. We spoke of a hybrid,” said Masebe.
According to the Sowetan, the provincial government had reached an agreement with the national government that the e-tolls would be replaced with a new system which would service the multibillion-rand debt created in the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
In his address on Monday, however, Makhura promised “major financial relief” to motorists and said consultation processes were under way.
“The provincial government is part of the current consultation process … to develop a better dispensation which will mitigate the negative impact of the e-tolls on the people of Gauteng, especially the middle and lower income groups.
“I am confident that the new dispensation should provide major financial relief to motorists, while simplifying the payment system to make it easy for road users to pay,” Makhura said in a speech prepared for delivery.
When approached for comment, Sowetan’s editor, Mpumelelo Mkhabela, sent a text message to Sapa saying: “Thank you for checking on the story. Please read the paper tomorrow.” — Sapa
