Abstract
M.A. (Public Management and Governance)
The South African road system is managed by the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), which is an agency under the Department of Transport. The main aim of SANRAL is to connect major cities, towns and emerging villages. It has undertaken a project of upgrading and expanding of the road network in the Gauteng Province of South Africa, known as the e-tolling system. It allows for the free flow Electronic Tolling (E-Toll) system and records all vehicles passing through the tollgate without requiring them to stop or slow. A built-in device (tag) is fitted into the overhead gantry system to detect the passing vehicle, which reads an e-tag (if fitted), as well as recording the number plate of the vehicle. A fee for using the road will be charged and paid later from a registered e-toll account, linked to the vehicle user or if no e-tag is present a bill is submitted to the owner.
The primary issue associated with the project relates to complaints from various interest groups, political parties and civic organisations regarding public participation in the planning and execution of e-tolling. This has resulted in mass marches and court cases, with the project, consequently undergoing delays, suspension and postponements. The study is, thus, motivated by the foregoing factors in endeavouring to assess the effectiveness of the public participation process in the initial stages of the e-tolling project.
The research utilised an exploratory case study method; comprehensively appraising the public participation areas within the e-tolling project of Gauteng. The study employed both documentation reviews and interviews as data collection methods. The research design was predominantly qualitative, however data analysis was undertaken and presented in both qualitative and quantitative evaluations...