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The Freedom Front Plus determined from a reply to a parliamentary question that the government is not planning to create a toll regulator to establish oversight over toll tariffs and conditions for usage. “Despite promises by the department of transport during the process of public participation in 2011 to create such a toll regulator which could protect road users against exploitation, government has decided against such a specialist toll regulator.

The good news is however that government wants to establish a Single Transport Economic Regulator, which will have oversight over all transport related issues, including toll tariffs, conditions for usage and the protection of the public. The minister indicated that legislation for the regulator would be in place by 2014,” Adv. Anton Alberts, the FF Plus’ parliamentary spokesperson on Transport said. “Although this appears to be a positive development, it would expose unhappy toll road users to arbitrary toll tariffs until the regulator is one day established and that is why it would have been wiser to rather have established a toll regulator immediately which could at a later stage have been incorporated into the Single Transport Economic Regulator,” Alberts explained.
 
In the meantime it is still the position that the FF Plus is as a whole opposed to the Gauteng e-toll system and the party is planning various actions to stop the system.  The party has already obtained success by having the amendment bill on the Gauteng toll system, i.e. the Road Traffic Laws and Related Issues amendment bill stopped in Parliament last week through proposing amendments to the bill at the last minute which forced the bill back to the parliamentary portfolio committee on transport for further handling.
 
Motorists are once again advised not to buy e-tags under any circumstances as the court case on the review of the e-tolls have already started which would give clarity as to whether the Gauteng e-toll system is legal or not.