Twelve years, seven ministers of transport, a trail of finance ministers and three presidents could not solve the e-toll debacle. But thanks to your stance and financial support to us, it was cancelled 12 years after its failed launch. 

OUTA was formed exactly twelve years ago, in March 2012, to tackle the irrational e-toll scheme and the constitutional concerns arising from Government’s decision to introduce e-tolling as a funding mechanism on Gauteng’s upgraded freeways. 

The signs of the scheme's failure were evident long before its December 2013 launch, yet government ignored citizens’ concerns and proceeded. Despite OUTA's evidence-backed warnings that it will fail, government persisted for years, squandering billions of rand of taxpayers' money on this costly and highly inefficient collection system. 

While OUTA was never opposed to the user-pays principle or the e-toll technology per se, we were very concerned about the lack of transparency, a meaningless public consultation process, and the cumbersome and largely unworkable administrative process of the scheme. 

Although we were unable to persuade the courts to halt it in 2012 because the money had already been spent on the roads and the gantries, we always believed the scheme could be challenged through a variety of avenues, from individual collateral challenges to civil disobedience. “Bad laws need to be treated in a manner that sends government back to the drawing board, and one such avenue is civil disobedience,” says OUTA’s CEO, Wayne Duvenage. “We want to thank the thousands of Gauteng motorists who refused to pay for standing their ground alongside OUTA.”

Duvenage says the whole debacle has been a harsh lesson for government. “Public participation must be meaningful, and thorough and should demonstrate that public input has been taken seriously if new policies and laws are to be respected. This victory should send a significant message to government that they should never ignore the voice and power of the people.”  

More information 

The Government Gazette is here.