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| THE BIG DEBATE: Members of the public still don't agree with SANRAL's e-tolls. Photo: thenewage.co.za |
As Anna Cox and Brendan of The Star write... "Does the government have the wherewithal to handle civil disobedience threatened by 2 million disgruntled motorists?"
Wayne Duvenhage, Chairman of Outa says laws and policies are no good unless they are enforced, and with such huge public opposition, the government will find it logistically and practically difficult to enforce the tolls.
Government could struggle to manage the large numbers of disgruntled motorists.
Here are some of the challenges that government could face from motorists:
1. The Constitutional Court case to be heard in November - motorists might not buy e-tags as ther're still some pending decisions regading e-tolls.
2. The absence of disobedience from motorists will be a huge challenge for the government to overcome;
3. If the public could stand together against e-tolls by not registering for e-tags, ignoring tolling costs and consequent fines;
Cosatu warned the government not to “even think” about implementing e-tolls until consultations were done, and threatened mass action should they be implemented.
Possible solutions for the contoversial e-tolls
1. Clearly there's a communication breakdown between government and the public, so communication should be enhanced so that the public will have a mutual understanding about the e-tolls;
2. Government should be willing to listen to the public's opinions and implement the e-tolls system in a mutually understood way, not only in favour of government;
3. There should be maximum transparency regarding e-tolls so that the all members of the public can understand exactly why there's a need for e-tolls.
These are only a few of many things which I think government shouldn't take for granted as they the potential to cause instability in SA.
i think this is really not fair for the government to implement this because they are really taking a lot from the people so i aslo support the stand against e-toll
ReplyDeleteI'm also not impressed about the way it is being handled, I believe that though planned communication, a mutual agreement can be realised.
DeleteThe government is really taking it too far with the e-tolls. What is worse is that these decisions seem to be taken without taking into account how they will affect the people. From a communication perspective the government has failed because they only communicated about the e-tolls once the system had been implemented and not while it was still being discussed.
ReplyDeleteTrue, considering the fact that we live in what we call a democratic country, we seem to be led by a government that is not willing to listen to its citizens' opinions.
DeleteWhat kind of a country introduces such things, yet we still find ourselves living in shacks and even struggling to take our children to school. Indeed the government of South Africa is taking it too far with this e-tolling system.
ReplyDeleteYou can ask more of such question Refi, regardless of how necessary it is for government to generate revenue for certain activities, it's important that people's thoughts are also considered.
DeleteThe govournments claim to democracy seems to be a hipocracy instead of electing leaders we have elected poloticians, instead of transparacy we have been given secrecy, instead of choice we have ultimatums.A govournment imposed will become a govournment opposed...I believe the govournment is doing this on purpose and if we as a country do not remain vigilant we will have another Marikana Massacre that could have been avoided
ReplyDeleteWell said Phemelo, I always ask myself why government would say there isn't enough money for service delivery, meanwhile the president is set to renovate his house for about R200 million.
DeleteThe South African government today is more like a money making scheme rather than being a country which is envied by other countries in the manner in which it is governed. It gets to show what an illiterate president can do for a so called democratic country.
ReplyDeleteThe state come to conclusions without looking at the negative impacts e-tolls will bring, take my word soon or later will see people protesting against this decision.
ReplyDeleteI can also agree with you there, many are not happy a all.
Deletewhat I hate about our government is that those people see how things are done abroad and they wanna do them like that here, without proper understanding and following the right procedures.
ReplyDeletehonestly i find this not fair for the government to implement such because they are really taking a lot from those people.
ReplyDeleteUnhappy citizens in a county like SA equals to more violent protests and political unrest.
DeleteI agree with each and everyone of you. The more we let the government force us to do things the more they are goin to take advantage of us and by that this country will go nowhere.
ReplyDeleteIndeed the success of every nation lies not only in the hands of its leaders, but also in those of its citizens.
DeleteThe government stIll has a lot to learn about treating its people and many issues are of concern,this issue for one has made many motoristS unhappy and they will not rest until government puts a stop to this implementation.
ReplyDeleteI concur with you, the protests are bound to continue when things are like this.
DeleteGovernment should listen to the majority of S.A citizens not minority of MPs
ReplyDeleteInteresting remark Lucky, I wonder if this is a possibility in this country of ours
Deleteindeed proper consultation is needed in the never ending saga of two bulls( government and the publics) struggling to win the upper hand. for example its like someone building a poor man a mansion expecting that same poor man to pay morgage bond for it monthly when initially the poor man only requested a four room house. clearly we have to redirect our attention to the stimulation of what really constitutes a democratic state
ReplyDelete