"What is astounding to Outa is the fact that e-tolls will enrich a foreign company by more than R13bn over the next 20 years, paid for by local motorists," chairman Wayne Duvenage said in a statement.
"[The National] Treasury should be doing all they can to prevent South African taxpayers' money - for use on social infrastructure - from leaving the country, let alone enriching any private company, foreign or local," Duvenhage said.
In his medium-term budget policy statement (MTBPS), Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan announced that government planned to slash perks for all officials, from ministers to mayors, hoping to save more than R2bn annually from December.
The steps included setting a standardised cost limit for official cars, revoking all official credit cards immediately, shrinking the size of delegations travelling abroad and putting ministers waiting for official homes in rented apartments instead of hotels.
Duvenage said Gordhan's acknowledgement that the reduced spending would result in a saving of R2bn a year was "astounding".
"Yet, one must ask why do we have to wait for difficult times before we get harsh on savings of this nature? This country requires strong corrective action and accountability throughout the civil service to address the billions of rands squandered each year through maladministration, poor procurement practices and corruption," he said.
"It is shocking that ministers and civil servants are allowed to remain in government employ after squandering state revenue, which does not display a serious approach towards accountable leadership," Duvenage said.
He said Outa hoped that government would reconsider scrapping e-tolls and putting some of the savings to good use by paying for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
Source: Sapa via I-net Bridge
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