ANC in Gauteng’s announcement about e-toll and land nothing new, but unlawful and populist

24 July 2018

The announcement made by the ANC in Gauteng this past weekend that the controversial e-toll system in Gauteng must be abolished is nothing new. Over the last few years, the Gauteng Premier, Mr David Makhura, has said the same thing innumerable times in the Gauteng Legislature as well as in his state of the province address.

The fact of the matter, however, is that neither the ANC in Gauteng nor Premier Makhura is doing anything to get rid of the system, instead, they are simply saying these things to gain populist support from voters for the 2019 elections. The FF Plus is convinced that the ANC in Gauteng will do everything in its power to keep from losing the province to a coalition of opposition parties in 2019.

The FF Plus also believes that the ANC in Gauteng is using the e-toll problem in the province for the benefit of the ruling party. In 2015, Makhura spent millions of rands to put together an e-toll committee, but apart from a report that was submitted to the national government at the time, very little came of it.

This year, Makhura once again ranted about the e-toll system in his state of the province address, but he has not really done anything to put an end to the system. In his state of the province address he undertook to take the matter up with President Cyril Ramaphosa, but nothing came of that either.

The FF Plus, therefore, believes that the announcement made by the ANC at the weekend means nothing and that voters have already started to see through the ANC.

Makhura’s assertion over the weekend that the ANC in Gauteng will not wait for Parliament to decide on the matter of expropriation without compensation just goes to show that the FF Plus is right in saying that the ANC in Gauteng is simply making populist statements for political support.

The FF Plus would like to reiterate that Makhura is jumping the gun concerning the parliamentary process and the issue of land and that what he is doing is unlawful as the Premier is only allowed to use provincial land and buildings in terms of the Land Administration Act, Act 11 of 1996.

Makhura is not allowed to touch private property or buildings before the process regarding Section 25 of the Constitution has been finalised and the section has been amended by Parliament.

Issued by Philip van Staden, FF Plus MPL: Gauteng Legislature, 24 July 2018