Lerato Mbhiza
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has confirmed that the controversial e-tolls in the province will officially begin to be switched off and delinked as soon as next month.
The announcement was made during his State of the Province Address (SOPA), where he acknowledged the widespread rejection of e-tolls by the people of Gauteng.
Lesufi said “E-tolls were a system that was introduced to our province by the national government in a bid to improve our roads. However, we have reached a point where we all accept that the people of Gauteng have rejected e-tolls.”
Despite the initial announcement to scrap the system made in 2022, the decommissioning process faced delays due to a lack of agreement with the National Treasury, he said.
“We have been able to find common ground on issues related to user-pay principle quantum of GFIP debt, quantum of sunken CAPEX costs, CAPEX obligation of the province, yearly maintenance costs of GFIP 1, repurposing of gantries, repayment of SANRAL GFIP 1 debt and the future funding of GFIP 2 and 3.
“From where we sit as the province, we remain confident that we should be able to end e-toll by March 2024.”
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