New "E-toll Bill" has serious flaws
The Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill or "E-toll Bill" assented to by Cabinet on 2 August 2012 has serious flaws.
The DA has serious reservations about the content of this bill and its likely efficacy and will ask for changes in three key areas when the bill is tabled in Parliament in the third term of 2012.
1. The "E-toll Bill" omits a clause which the Transport Portfolio Committee had inserted into the National Road Traffic Act and Regulations (Chapter XIII, clause 6).
This clause clearly states that, before the Minister makes any regulation, he must first provide a draft of the proposed regulations, to be referred to Parliament for comment. In the new "E-Toll Bill," there is no such requirement. This Bill will therefore give the Minister, in conjunction with Sanral, carte blanche when it comes to imposing and gazetting new tariffs, creating new methods for collecting fees and prosecuting non-payers, without any political oversight.
I will be calling on Parliament to insert a similar clause and amend the "E-toll Act" to fall in line with the National Road Traffic Act and Regulations, requiring the minister to also refer regulations under the "E-toll Act" to Parliament for comment, before they are promulgated via the Government Gazette.