Unions have accused the government of pandering to the interests of a few politicians and private business as well as appeasing credit ratings agencies for going ahead with the e-tolls system.
The system prejudiced the majority, representatives of the National Council of Trade Unions and Congress of South African Trade Unions argued yesterday.
A panel to assess the socio-economic impact of e-tolls in Gauteng has since been set up by Premier David Makhura.
E-tolls were introduced last year, amid fierce opposition, to collect fees towards the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
Nactu head of policy and project, Thulani Khumalo, yesterday told the panel that there should not be "an over-reliance on scientific data" at the expense of listening to citizens' opposition to e-tolls.
He said this would give rise to a skewed public policy formulation.
Cosatu Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile questioned whether the government, in implementing the unpopular system, was serving the interests of a few politicians, foreign investors and credit ratings agencies or its constituency.
Nactu and Cosatu proposed that e-tolls be scrapped and the fuel levy be increased instead.
Cosatu said the government should increase the levy by 14c on the 21.5 billion litres of fuel which is consumed annually. This, the trade federation said, would bring in close to the R3-billion needed yearly to service the R20-billion loan borrowed to finance the project.
Dakile also proposed a "special fuel levy" for Gauteng.
Dakile dismissed the panel's terms of reference as "narrow" for only dealing with the socio-economic impact of the e-tolls, and not the personal interests of certain government leaders.
Chairperson of the panel, Professor Muxe Nkondo, said the panel was merely an advisory body - not an instrument by which e-tolls could be reviewed.
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