Government’s announcement of a new dispensation for e-tolls “is an admission that the mass campaign against e-tolls is winning and the system is collapsing‚ as thousands of motorists continue to refuse to pay”‚ said Zwelinzima Vavi.

Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa said on Wednesday that toll fees for unregistered users will be reduced by almost half and payment will be a condition of receiving a renewed licence disc.

He also proclaimed that government is cutting the maximum amount drivers will be asked to pay for toll fees on highways in Gauteng from R450 to R225.

This‚ said Vavi‚ the former secretary general of the Congress of South African Trade Unions‚ won’t lead to an increase in payment.

“On the contrary‚ drivers will smell victory for their campaign of resistance and will be more determined than ever to resist until this hated tax is withdrawn completely‚” he said.

“The government overlooks the fact that the campaign against e-tolls was never just in opposition to the amount being tolled but to the principle of turning a basic public service into a commodity.”

Government hopes a new dispensation for e-tolls will restore confidence in the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral)‚ which has suffered a double whammy of nonpayment by road users and a rebuff from the bond market.

“With this we believe Sanral will be able to go out to the market and raise money‚” Ramaphosa said.

Vavi countered this by saying the toll system is “clearly collapsing” and “Sanral is facing a revenue shortfall of about R390-million because of drivers’ failure or refusal to pay the tolls”.

“Electronic Toll Collection‚ which operates the tolls and is controlled by Kapsch TrafficCom‚ an Austrian maker of toll road systems‚ said in February last year that it had taken a R112-million write-down on part of compensation it was due to receive from Sanral to maintain and run the system‚” Vavi said.

He also scoffed at Ramaphosa claim that government will make up this shortfalls by offering car owners a 60% discount to settle their bills.

“If they do not pay he is hinting — threatening? — that non-payers will not be issued with vehicle licence discs and would therefore be driving unlawfully. If this is true such blackmail will only make motorists even angrier and more determined not to pay.”