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The Minister of Transport, Ben Martins, has not yet brought the legislation to Parliament that is necessary for the implementation of the E-toll system.

Minister Martins previously indicated that he would bring this enabling legislation to Parliament in the third term of 2012. This term has now come and gone and no such legislation has been forthcoming. The legislation can now only be considered by Parliament in the fourth term this year which begins mid-October. This may limit the implementation of the E-toll system or the prosecution of offenders once the system is implemented.

Bills still requiring the attention of Parliament include The Transport Law and Related Matters Amendment Bill and The National Road Traffic Amendment Bill. In both cases, there is still a process of deliberations and amendments before the bills are approved.

I have also written to the speaker about three sets of regulations relating to e-tolls that were gazetted by the former Transport Minister, S'bu Ndebele, without complying with the legislative requirement that the draft be sent to Parliament for input before they are implemented.

The National Road Traffic Act (Act 93 of 1996) as amended by Act 64 of 2008 requires that this be done, specifically section 75 (6) of that act which states that:
Before the Minister makes any regulation, the Minister must cause a draft of the proposed regulations a) to be referred to Parliament for comment and b) at the same time to be published in the Gazette together with a notice calling upon all interested persons to lodge in writing, and within a period specified in the notice, but not less than 4 weeks as from the date of publication of the notice, any objections or representation which they would like to raise or make, with the Director General for submission to the Minister.
The following regulations were gazetted without the input of Parliament in terms of this Act:

27 March 2012, No. 35182 – Minister Ndebele: The introduction of a special new traffic police force or “peace officers”
- This notice stated that interested persons had only 20 days, instead of the 28 required by the Act, to make their thoughts on the matter known
- These regulations were never brought before Parliament for comment

13 April 2012, No.35263 – Minister Ndebele: toll tariffs for the different categories of road users and classes of motor vehicles.
- This notice stated that the tariffs were payable from 30 April 2012, giving the public 17 days to give their thoughts on the matter
- This was never brought before Parliament for comment

8 June 2012, No.35413(Notice 458 of 2012 – Minister Ndebele: Publication for Comments: Amendment of the National Road Traffic Regulations
- These amendments too, were never brought before Parliament for comment

The Department of Transport and National Treasury seem to be determined to push ahead with the implementation of E-tolls in Gauteng. Whilst they are fighting the legal battles to overcome the enormous public opposition to this project, they are making a hash of the legislation required to implement and enforce it.

The DA will continue to insist on the appropriate level of parliamentary oversight over the legislation and regulations that will protect consumers from exploitation in the roll-out of E-tolls.