Pretoria – The Minister of Transport and the South African National Road Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) have published draft regulations and notices relating to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) for public comment.
The regulations and notices were published in the Government Gazette on Friday 24 May 2013.
In a statement on Sunday, Sanral CEO Nazir Alli said the public was invited to comment on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) within a 30-day period.
This comes just days after the National Council of Provinces (NCOP) approved the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill.
Alli said on Sunday that the published regulations detailed how the tolling process would work, and include e-road regulations, e-road specification regulations, regulations on exemption from payment of GFIP tolls, the Amendment to the National Road Traffic Regulations, the conditions of e-toll payments of GFIP and the exemptions of payments of tolls for GFIP for qualifying public transport services and emergency vehicles.
“With the publication of the notices and regulations as well as the National Council of Provinces decision this week, we are starting to implement the final steps before e-tolling begins. We encourage those who have not yet registered for their e-tags to do so now.
“There are a few steps left in this process but the implementation of the e-toll system is well on its way. Sanral believes that tolling is a sustainable way of paying for the upgrade of the Gauteng freeway system. It is a tool that is used selectively to meet the challenges of a constrained fiscus and maintaining the road infrastructure,” he said.
Alli said the public had 30 days to comment on the draft Bill, and that once that period lapses, and after President Jacob Zuma signs the Bill into law, e-tolling would commence.
Alli said Sanral was ready to implement e-tolling, and that all due process were followed. He said once all the legislative requirements have been met, e-tolling would commence. – SAnews.gov.za
