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After months of delays and talks with goverment, the Gauteng e-toll system will be implemented, the transport minister reported.
We've had many responses to the etolling announcement. Reader Mpapadi Monyela emailed us to share his thoughts on the Gauteng e-toll plan:
In terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, one must be assessed to see if they are credit worthy before they are granted credit. I’m referring to credit because the e-tolls will be post-paid and one can never know if they will have enough money to pay the e-tolling account.
CREDIT CHECK
Let’s take a cellphone account for instance; even a R50 per month cellphone contract requires that one be assessed for creditworthiness to see if they will be able to afford the R50 payment per month before they are granted credit.
Now SANRAL and our lovely government (the lovely part is just about to be forgotten) expect the Gauteng (and visiting) citizens to cough up a capped R550 per month. They talk about the amount as if it’s nothing!
Already, statistics reveal that over 50% of those with debts are already struggling to pay and skipping their payments. Indebted people are those with cars because most drivers will buy their cars on credit. Now, take the already over-indebted citizen who is struggling to honour his dues to the creditors and expect them to pay R550 more for something they have never budgeted for.
People need to get to their workplaces to earn a living and they do not choose to use cars because they like luxury, public transport will just not work for some occupations. Even companies are already struggling and overwhelming them with further running costs will result in a lot of company closures and job losses!
The roads need to get paid but this is the most wrong way to generate the payment funds. Most residential complexes have been developed next to the highway with the highway being used as the selling point. For such residents, e-tolling will be like placing toll-gates on these people’s gates and expecting them to pay whenever they go out.
Cross-province tolling is acceptable but this e-tolling on the major highways which are the only key roads for Gauteng is “man-slaughter”.
Share your thoughts in our Readers comments below or email us and we'll publish your article on Wheels24.
We've had many responses to the etolling announcement. Reader Mpapadi Monyela emailed us to share his thoughts on the Gauteng e-toll plan:
In terms of the National Credit Act 34 of 2005, one must be assessed to see if they are credit worthy before they are granted credit. I’m referring to credit because the e-tolls will be post-paid and one can never know if they will have enough money to pay the e-tolling account.
CREDIT CHECK
Let’s take a cellphone account for instance; even a R50 per month cellphone contract requires that one be assessed for creditworthiness to see if they will be able to afford the R50 payment per month before they are granted credit.
Now SANRAL and our lovely government (the lovely part is just about to be forgotten) expect the Gauteng (and visiting) citizens to cough up a capped R550 per month. They talk about the amount as if it’s nothing!
Already, statistics reveal that over 50% of those with debts are already struggling to pay and skipping their payments. Indebted people are those with cars because most drivers will buy their cars on credit. Now, take the already over-indebted citizen who is struggling to honour his dues to the creditors and expect them to pay R550 more for something they have never budgeted for.
People need to get to their workplaces to earn a living and they do not choose to use cars because they like luxury, public transport will just not work for some occupations. Even companies are already struggling and overwhelming them with further running costs will result in a lot of company closures and job losses!
The roads need to get paid but this is the most wrong way to generate the payment funds. Most residential complexes have been developed next to the highway with the highway being used as the selling point. For such residents, e-tolling will be like placing toll-gates on these people’s gates and expecting them to pay whenever they go out.
Cross-province tolling is acceptable but this e-tolling on the major highways which are the only key roads for Gauteng is “man-slaughter”.
Share your thoughts in our Readers comments below or email us and we'll publish your article on Wheels24.