In the final round of consultations centred on the province’s litigious e-tolling system, Gauteng Premier David Makhura met with representatives of civil society, political parties, labour, affected metropolitans and municipalities earlier this month to elicit feedback on the recent e-toll report before the province comes to a final determination based on the report’s findings and recommendations.

The report, which was compiled by a panel of transport experts and released in January, described the current system as “unaffordable and inequitable”, adding that it placed a disproportionate financial burden on low- and middle- income households.

It made over 60 recom-mendations, based on issues including public transport, infrastructure, environmental sustain-ability and spatial integration of the province.

“Many [people] want to know why we have another round of consultations if we already have the panel’s findings. However, the panel stated that, before we make a final decision on the [reworked] funding model of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), public transport and traffic demand management, we must take the people with us,” he told the gathering in Midrand.

The consultations took the form of several working groups, the first of which focused on integrated transport systems, with an emphasis on public transport, while the second interrogated an alternative hybrid funding model.

The remaining groups engaged over traffic demand management, limiting the GFIP’s social impacts, and further consultation and communication.

While unwilling to be drawn on the likely outcome of government’s deliberations, Makhura told a media briefing that the ‘user pays’ system would not be abandoned. “We will uphold the ‘user pays’ principle – we can’t change that, because we need funding. It’s how much is paid, how it’s collected and who pays that’s the issue.

“I’m certain that you and I will still have to pay, but [the new system] must take affordability into account,” he said, adding that the nature of the final model would dictate how long it would take to be implemented.

The Premier advised that the Gauteng provincial government had, since the report’s release last month, engaged with national government structures, represented by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, and that financial modelling had been undertaken to determine the viability of each of the panel’s recommendations.