Perhaps we realise the need to pay for the freeway improvements, but we expect to do so through efficient means to collect these taxes.

According to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), SANRAL has collected R5,6 billion less in eTolls than budgeted and its annual report depicts a demise of e-Tolls.

E-tolls had been in place for five years and four months until March 2019 and during this period, SANRAL had invoiced the public for just over R27 billion for e-tolls.

“While the minister of transport has yet to announce an alternative to the e-Toll impasse, for all intents and purposes the scheme is now dead and anybody still paying e-Tolls is merely keeping the scheme on life support,” OUTA’s chief executive officer Wayne Duvenhage said.

He added that it was interesting to note over the past year that SANRAL did not reflect their e-Toll revenue as being anything more than the R688 million, which is what they actually realised in cash from the scheme.

The Democratic Alliance (DA) in Gauteng also expressed concern, saying that the ANC government is silent about the future of e-Tolls, despite numerous promises that it will eradicate them.

“The ANC government can no longer be trusted in handling the e-Toll matter as they seem to be unable to come to an agreement among themselves,” Fred Nel (DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Transport) said in a statement.

Various ANC leaders have made conflicting statements and promises, which are yet to materialise and Nel said this indecisiveness has resulted in the extension of the e-Toll contract (which expired at the start of December).

Nel was adamant that Gauteng residents should not be fooled by the so-called delay tactics, which ultimately have a huge impact on their pockets.

“For the longest time the DA has been against e-Tolls as it is negatively impacting on the residents of Gauteng. We have proposed that a portion of the fuel levy be used to pay for e-Tolls but instead it is now being used to bail out failing state-owned enterprises,” Nel concluded.

The DA said it will continue to put pressure on ANC government to scrap e-Tolls.