If the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences (Aarto) Act, which was signed into law by President Cyril Ramaphosa last week, goes into effect, a trip from Johannesburg to Pretoria will cost consumers without e-tags R1 000.

A R250 fine would be levied against motorists for for every gantry passed without an e-tag present.

Critics have slated this decision as:

• This legislation could be used to bully non-paying motorists into paying e-tolls
• Gauteng currently has a 70% non-compliance rate, meaning the burden of billing motorists would be onerous
• Approximately 1,49-million trips are taken on Gauteng’s tolled roads daily
• For every R500 fine received under the new Act, motorists will receive a demerit point
• Non-payment of fines could result in a three-year driving ban
• This would cause havoc with the country’s economy as people would lose jobs and small businesses may close

Minister of Transport Fikile Mbalula has a deadline of Saturday 31 August to announce the future of the contentious tolling system.