Debate on e-tolls billing challenges and road fatalities should be constructive - Portfolio Committee on Transport
The Portfolio Committee on Transport says the debate on e-tolls billing challenges and road fatalities should be constructive. Following the outcry on the e-tolls billing system, the Committee invited the Minister and the department for a detailed briefing on Tuesday. But also the Committee wanted an update on road safety initiatives as it was the decade of road safety.
The Committee Chairperson, Ms Ruth Bhengu, said it was crucial that billing challenges were clarified to the Committee especially as they related to cloning of number plates. “This is a challenge, and the Committee is looking at best practices on how best to deal with this situation,” she said.
“When it came to road fatalities, the country should not be debating which statistical data was accurate, rather how to get the numbers low. Home Affairs should be the source for updated information that had been verified against the population register. The challenge with relying on morgues is that their statistics are open to distortions and analysis,” she said.
Earlier this year, the Western Cape MEC for Transport disputed the accuracy of figures provided by the Department of Transport on road fatalities for 2013, following the province’s decision to collect data on road fatalities from morgues. Ms Bhengu said it was wrong that some people sought to create an impression that the department had manipulated statistics.
“SA should change the approach in dealing with road safety. Our focus ought to be on making South Africa’s roads safer and easier to use. There are initiatives but they all seem to be event-driven without a comprehensive programme that targets communities. Road safety is a responsibility of all South Africans. If communities are not made part of the solution, there is a challenge,” she said.
The Minister, Ms Dipuo Peters, had earlier indicated to the Committee that she had instructed SANRAL to sort out billing challenges associated with e-tolls, and that Road Traffic Management Corporation administer the e-natis. Minister Peters informed the Committee that scholar transport was concerning because some of the vehicles used to transport learners were in a sorry state, and that a policy on scholar transport was with Cabinet.
The Chairperson said there was a need to organise a workshop on road safety before Easter in order to alert society to the carnage on South African roads.
For media enquiries or interviews with the Chairperson, please contact:
Sibongile Maputi, Parliamentary Communication Services
Cell: 079 082 2732
Tel: 021 403 8041
E-mail: smaputi@parliament.gov.za
