Do you have an e-tag? Did you know you can use it to pay tolls at regular gantries too? We do it often (yes, we were among the people who happily paid #eTolls), and it's super convenient.
They're planning other uses for it too: https://techcentral.co.za/what-sanral-says-you-can-do-your-e-tag/247245/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
Coming Up On Carte Blanche – 14 April 2024
#CarteBlancheTV #MNet101 #BusinessOfBirth #CollegeCopOut #CourageousGwala #Eskom #Etolls #ElectionsUnpacked #HermanMashaba #30YearsOfDemocracy #CarteBlancheDocumentary #UrbanSpaces #CarteBlancheThePodcast
https://www.samdb.co.za/blogs/blog/2024/04/12/coming-up-on-carte-blanche-14-april-2024/
So it seems I got caught by that damnable phrase, "tomorrow at midnight" again. WTF does "tomorrow at midnight" mean?!
When I heard that yesterday, I assumed they meant Thursday morning at 00:00:00.
Now it seems they meant Thursday evening at 23:59:59.
Although at least some people in government must've assumed the same as I did, because someone just sent a voice note to the radio to say all the gantries on *his* way to work are off.
I really really wish people would stop using the term "midnight". Nobody knows what it actually means, there's no agreed-upon standard, and even the same people (i.e. government) are incapable of using it consistently from one instance to the next. :P
E-tolls are going away tomorrow, but if you owe SANRAL money, you'll still have to pay your outstanding debt: https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2024-04-10-gauteng-set-to-finally-end-e-tolls-but-overdue-fees-remain-on-the-table/?utm_source=MastodonAfrica
Although e-tolls will be shut down permanently in the next 24 hours, motorists who use the toll roads up until midnight on 11 April, 2024 will still be liable to pay their debt. The National Government however is yet to figure out how it will enforce this.
So #eTolls are officially being switched off at 23:59 SAST on 11 April 2024.
https://techcentral.co.za/e-tolls-scrapped/242195/?utm_source=Mastodon
I must say, I'm kind of sad at what a mammoth disaster this whole thing turned out to be. I remember thinking when it started that it was a fine, perfectly fair and equitable way of paying for the road improvements. If you use the highway, you pay. If you don't use the highway, you don't pay. Plus, we always assumed there'd be a certain amount of people who weren't prepared to pay, but the understanding was that those people would find alternative routes, which would ease the traffic on the highways. Win-win-win. I never really understood why people hated the idea so much.
And in the beginning, they made it painstakingly clear how easy it was to get an exemption. Taxis and busses and other companies providing transportation to people could get exemptions. Those earning below a certain threshold could get exemption... Hell, anyone giving me a lift could've gotten an exemption, on account of my visual impairment.
But no, that wasn't good enough for people. The amount of resistance this thing got... crazy. It was doomed from the start.
People rather wanted it to come out of the fuel levy. But how is THAT fair? The more you drive, the more fuel you use, the more you pay... whether you physically use the roads that e-tolls were meant to pay for or not.
Graham Downs
SAMDB
Chris
Cliff the Reporter 🇿🇦
Ivo Vegter