It's the 30th of April and today was supposed to mark the day Sanral was due to start "robbing" people of their hard earned money through paying the e-tolls. Sanral must be seeing flames, because this e-tolling system is not happening, even after the government said the application for the interdict was 4 years too late. Lol. Somebody got their calculations wrong.
Jokes aside... I think this is a much needed victory for the public and proof that the voice of the masses matters most. No system can shut people up and our combined efforts have disabled a system that would breed more corruption.
With people paying indefinitely for these e-tolls, what would have happened should the R20 billion debt reach a level of being paid off? Would we be informed or would our accounts still be debited for the benefit of the government?
This figure of 350 000 people having registered sounds too exaggerated and may easily be propaganda. How do the people who registered feel about the interdict because clearly they were ready to cough out money from today?
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I’m not going to make it a secret… I’m highly opposed to the Gauteng Tolling System, which is being imposed unto us by SANRAL.
Unfortunately, there’s this feeling from the rest of the country that this is a Gauteng issue, without realizing that these tolls will be rolled out to the rest of the country in due season.
We want to be law abiding citizens but what happens when your so-called government screws you over in broad day light. No South African doesn’t know that the majority of Black South Africans are either poor, “managing poverty” or middle class citizens living in abundance of debt. I’m bringing in race because it’s normally black people living in townships that are tens of kilometers away from their workplace, schools and varsities that use the roads to get to work.
AA Explains it best:
A total of 49 gantries have been built, to date, on major commuter routes in Gauteng, having a large impact on all road users. Here are some of the ways that the eTolling system will affect you:
o Reduced income: Imagine adding to your personal tax bill! eTolling has an equivalent effect, reducing disposable income by as much as R550 a month (more without an eTag). Although, this is the amount at which monthly toll fees will be capped, it is unknown how long this limit will be in place.
o Increased price of goods for consumers: Everything transported along tolled routes will cost more, which means increased operational costs for businesses and retailers and, in turn, for you. Furthermore, an increase in the inflation rate is possible, making home and car loan repayments more expensive.
o Access to your bank account: When registering, you will be giving permission for your bank account to be automatically debited. With this comes the possibility of incorrect amounts being taken off and the aggravation of having to claim back.
o Risk to your integrity: Many illegal number plates are being used on Gauteng’s roads, which means you could be incorrectly billed and will have to go through the process of requesting a photograph to dispute false claims.
The AA is calling for the public to NOT register for eTags until solutions to the problem are tabled that show serious consideration for the inflationary effect that tolling will have and the consequent impact on our already empty wallets!
Get your NO TOLL GP sticker at an AA Accredited Sales Agent store for only R10 today! Visit www.aa.co.za for a list of stores near you. 
Have we really lost the fight against the e-tolling system. Today, I read this article below: There has been a significant increase of e-tag registrations in Gauteng, the SA National Roads Agency Ltd said on Wednesday.
Most of the registrations had taken place at mall outlets, it said in a statement.
The agency was unable to provide a figure but the Beeld reported that more than 350,000 e-tags had been registered for e-tolling.
Salahdin Yacoubi, chief executive of electronic toll collections, told the publication that between 5,000 and 10,000 people had registered daily in the past week.
E-tolling is set to go live on April 30.
Sanral gazetted new tariffs on Friday.
Alternate users (people without e-tags) will be charged R1.75/km, compared to the standard tariff of 30c/km for registered users.
It said the higher fee was because of the need to recover costs, including invoicing and debt collection.
On Tuesday, several organisations and political parties raised concerns about the tariffs and asked Sanral to postpone the launch.
The Congress of SA Trade Unions said it was planning a second strike against the system.
Do people realise that these fees are not fixed? It simply means in the first months you pay 30c per kilometer and before you know it, by December you’ll be paying R1 per kilometer. Are these the results of the freedom that our forefathers fought for?
The bigger question is who will benefit? We already know that an Austrian company will be bagging billions from this system.
So, who from the government will be getting the big fat cheques? Are we even aware that certain individuals from the government are exempt from this tolling system?
My final questions is: What are we Gauteng residents and South African citizens doing about this?
@PruMathebula