SA's provinces have snubbed a proposal that fuel levies be used to pay for Gauteng's e-toll system, City Press reports this morning.
A review panel set up by Gauteng premier David Makhura is currently scrutinising the system, with numerous organisations giving representations weighing its impact and some lobbying for it to be scrapped.
Some counter-proposals to the current system are pushing for a national fuel levy to be used as an alternative payment method in a bid to recuperate more than R20 billion debt incurred by its implementation.
The paper says provincial transport MECs rejected the idea at a recent meeting with national transport minister Dipuo Peters.
It quotes a Free State transport MEC Butana Komphela, who noted that other provinces could not be expected to fund "the beautiful roads in Gauteng" when their own roads were not in a good state.
"Our people in villages and farms that are going to pay the petrol levy are not using those roads that look like they are in heaven," the MEC reportedly said.
Most presentations in the review panel have spoken out against the e-toll system, including those from Justice Project SA, Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance and Business Unity SA.
But Makhura and Peters have indicated the panel's purpose is to work as an impact assessment, rather than a catalyst to scrap e-tolls. The panel's findings are set to be presented to Makhura in November.
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