Johannesburg - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) on Friday said the extension of the etoll 60% discount offer was “predictable and expected”.
On Thursday the Minister of Transport Dipuo Peters granted an additional 10 working days extension for road users to take advantage of the e-toll 60% discount on the historic debt, from Friday, 6th May 2016 until Tuesday 17th May 2016.
This followed the previous deadline that was given to motorists to pay their e-toll debts by 2 May. Commenting on the discount extension, Outa Chairman Wayne Duvenage said: “We are moved by the incredible support we have received and the fact that the majority of motorists still continue to defy the scheme”. He said Outa's membership has continued growing by several thousands over the last few weeks.
Also read: E-tolls ‘overpriced by more than 300%’
“We are encouraged by the amount of organisations and citizens outside our membership base who are choosing to defend themselves against the summons,” said Duvenage. He said that the public largely rejecting Sanral's 60% discount offer, which is why it wasn't surprising that Sanral was forced to extend the period by another 10 days in an attempt to claw back a bit more of the R5.9 billion discounted e-toll debt.
Spooking the public
“Sanral's recent legal summonsing of a few handpicked e-toll defaulters, is an attempt to spook the public into taking advantage of the dispensation deadline extension, while in reality, the scheme has been shunned and the uptake has been far too low to convert the scheme to a sustainable one,” said Duvenage. “All research and evidence has shown the public are defying the system as a matter of principal and not only for financial reasons.”
Duvenage said unless Sanral displayed “transparency and a discontinuation of incessant misleading information” the public had every reason to “disbelieve and distrust” the state owned entity. “Outa fully supports those who stand up for their rights, whilst maintaining the stance that e-Tolls were introduced unlawfully and will offer full legal defense of its members who are summonsed for the non-payment of e-tolls.”
African News Agency (ANA)