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E-tolls not scrapped yet – Godongwana passes buck back to Gauteng government
National government will take on 70% of Sanral's debt, but Gauteng has to come up with a plan to collect the remainder, with e-tolls as one of the options.
An e-toll gantry is seen along the N1 near Roodepoort on 28 February 2021. Picture: Michel Bega
Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana has thrown the ball back into the Gauteng provincial government’s court, allowing them the privilege to decide whether to keep or scrap e-tolls.
E-tolls are the electronic toll collection processes employed by South Africa’s roads agency Sanral on selected toll roads or toll lanes, subject to the Sanral Act of 1998.
Also Read: Godongwana’s budget is D-Day for failed e-tolls
Godongwana mentioned this during the media briefing prior to delivering the Mid Term Budget Policy Statement, where he said that national government would be assuming 70% of Sanral’s debt, while the Gauteng provincial government would be assuming 30%.
But how is provincial govt paying off that 30%?
Godongwana said it was up to the provincial arm to decide how they were going to pay off that debt as well as cover the costs of maintaining Gauteng’s roads and associated interchanges.
He said that it could either acquire the funds needed through existing electronic toll infrastructures or through new toll plazas, or any other revenue source within their area of responsibility.
“We are not telling them what to do. All we are doing as national government is taking on 70% of the debt. Sanral will continue to do what it does best and so they will decide whether to keep e-tolls or not,” Godongwana said.
Sanral will receive an initial allocation of R23,7 billion from the national fiscus, which will be disbursed on strict conditions.
