"The figure Sanral provided on the number of e-tags which had been sold was a ploy to create the impression that people were flocking to purchase them," said Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage.
"Sanral have yet to confirm how many actual individual road users have purchased an e-tag, which we suspect is a much smaller proportion of total e-tag sales," he said in a statement.
He said the figure provided by Sanral that 700,000 e-tags were sold, included large fleet operators, banks, car rental companies, government fleets, and leasing companies.
"We simply don't believe their rhetoric," he said.
On Tuesday, 26 November, Sapa made enquiries about the number of e-tags sold to individuals, the number sold to government departments, and the number sold to companies. By 4pm, Sanral had not responded.
Duvenage said the information given by Sanral was incorrect as its website calculator gave different figures.
"They have misled the public before and we are convinced they are doing this again to create false impressions of acceptance of their system. The simple truth is the public are not taking this lying down," Duvenage said.
Outa has said it will soon release details of its strategy on empowering society, including providing motorists with knowledge about their rights as well as legal advice.
Duvenage said Outa would provide legal counsel and a legal team to the first person summonsed for non-payment of e-tolls.
"This first case will be the test case," he added.
"Until then, Outa urges the public to exercise civil courage and know that it is not only their right, but their duty to resist and reject a law which has been implemented in a manner that works against the best interests of the people," Duvenage said.
Source: Sapa via I-Net Bridge
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