Johnathan Paoli
Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has welcomed the final scrapping of the open road electronic toll gantry system (e-toll) from Thursday.
Speaking during a media briefing on Wednesday, Premier Lesufi said that from 12 April, road users will no longer be charged for the use of the e-toll network.
The Premier was joined by the Minister of Transport Sindisiwe Chikunga together with representatives from the South African National Roads Agency in a media briefing concerning the finalisation of the termination of the e-toll drama.
Lesufi said after intensely difficult and painful negotiations, the provincial government stood on the side of history, that come midnight tomorrow, e-tolls will no longer be a portion of collecting revenue in the province.
“I want to assure that we are excited as a province that finally we can convert our role from being a parking bay to real freeways and smart freeways that we can expand and maintain them. We are further excited that the resolution on e-tolls brings to an end a history that we did not want to carry beyond the period we are in as custodians of this administration,” the premier said.
However some have observed that the shutdown of the province’s e-toll system could lead to increased adoption of the electronic tags (e-tags) that will still be usable at conventional toll gates on long-distance routes across South Africa.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse’s CEO Wayne Duvenage, said he believes the tags will now prove more popular due to their benefits at toll plazas operated by the three major concessionaires.
“People and companies will most likely take up fitting e-tags, now that these tags will not bill them for use of the Gauteng freeways, which they may have defied on the basis promoted by Outa over the years,” Duvenage said.
The e-tags that are used for registering gantry pass-throughs of vehicles on roads that formed part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), commonly referred to as “e-tolls”, are the same devices that can be pre-loaded with credits for use at regular toll gates.
With e-tolls becoming a thing of the past, motorists who refused to pay can benefit from the faster dedicated tagged lanes at toll plazas, where e-tolls will remain connected.
The tag beeps will stop after midnight on 11 April, while the e-toll stores will remain open as the tag can still be used for interoperability, account queries and other potential transport related services that will be determined in due course.
A gazette from Sanral, effectively ending e-tolling, was published towards the end of last month, following the announcement by the provincial government of a plan to start shutting down e-tolls during Treasury MEC Jacob Mamabolo’s budget speech in February 2024.
While the shutdown will mean motorists passing under the gantries won’t accrue new e-toll charges, there was still uncertainty over what would happen to historical e-toll debts, as National Treasury had told media that the Gauteng government had acknowledged the need to collect these amounts.
During the press briefing, Minister Chikunga said that a memorandum of agreement had been signed between the national government, the provincial government, and Sanral on future sustainable funding of the roads that will no longer be financed with e-tolls.
“Road users will no longer be required to do anything after the e-Tolls have been canceled. This is critical for the ongoing long term benefits of interoperability. The camera’s will remain on for road safety purposes and also for crime prevention,” Chikunga said.
Lesufi released additional information in a document regarding payments and debt, on the social platform X, which indicated that while Sanral still maintained an obligation to collect outstanding amounts due, but that legal action was not included.
“As the implementing authority and in terms of Treasury Regulations, Sanral has an obligation to take effective and appropriate steps to collect all money due to it. Until advised otherwise, this remains the Sanral position,” the documents read.
The Premier previously promised refunds for customers who had paid their e-toll accounts.
However, another part of the document states that there will be no refunds for paid-up accounts or prosecution until Sanral receives other instructions from its political principal the Department of Transport.
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