Pretoria – A final round of talks between government and stakeholders on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme (GFIP) got underway in Pretoria on Tuesday afternoon.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe met with representatives from the Opposition to Urban Tolling, the group that had taken the SA National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) to court over the implementation of the e-toll system on Gauteng’s roads. It is also part of an Inter-Ministerial Committee that was set up to investigate alternative funding methods.
Among those present at the meeting included representatives from the rental motor industry, business as well as the transport sector.
Motlanthe, who arrived at today’s meeting, flanked by Finance and Transport Ministers Pravin Gordhan and Ben Martens, will also be meeting with church organisations as well as unions and government continues to engage with various stakeholders ahead of the implementation of the e-toll system.
Motlanthe’s spokesperson Thabo Masebe said a series of meeting were scheduled for this week.
“As you are aware we have met with all the stakeholders in the past and this is probably the last round of the consultations and we expect to complete it sometime next week and government will then announce how it is proceeding on the matter,” Masebe said.
Last week, the Constitutional Court in Johannesburg set aside a Pretoria High Court ruling made in April that prevented the system from going ahead, pending a judicial review in November.
This means SANRAL and the Department of Transport are legally entitled to begin rolling out the system. – SAnews.gov.za