Sorry, stolen ‘phone lines let us down

In reply to the letter “Confusion at toll plazas” (Courier, August 21) our oThongathi plaza communication lines have been down since early August and upon investigation by the service provider (Telkom) has identified that it was due to cable theft.

With oThongathi toll plaza housing the entire route frequent user system, all other toll plazas in the route (i.e. King Shaka Airport, Mvoti, Mtunzini, Mandini and Dokodweni) would also be affected. The absence of a communication network has major impact in our environment as information updated from our back office system cannot be transferred to the lane area.

Our managers have been in constant contact with Telkom and the recent development is that another incident of cable theft occurred on August 17 after it had been repaired. We remain in contact with Telkom to ensure that we find a lasting solution. Our technical department is in parallel to the above, trying implementing an alternative communication network solution.

We wish to apologise to Mrs. Moore and all road users of the N2 North toll route for the inconvenience experienced as a result of this situation. The delays that Mrs. Moore refers to were as a result of our toll collectors needing to confirm the balance of each frequent user with the supervisor at the control room and the administration office.

We appreciate how problematic and inadequate our manual processes have been and wish to apologise to our customers. In an attempt to alleviate the delays experienced at our toll lanes our senior management has decided that we let all frequent users through the plaza without verifying the balances on their frequent user accounts till communication lines are restored. Should customers experience any challenges with the process they can contact plaza managers for the respective toll plazas as follows:

oThongathi and King Shaka Airport Plaza: Mr Ben Reddy Tel 032 945 1237, email: tongaatman@intertollafrica.co.za

Mvoti: Ms Saras Mahomed Tel 032 559 9395 email: mvotiman@intertollafrica.co.za

Mtunzizi and Mandini: Mr Andres Gcaba Tel: 035 340 1087 email: mtunziniman@intertollafrica.co.za

Frequent user customers are encouraged to attempt and keep track of their transactions for the month and also maintain a positive account balance as once the connectivity is restored a reconciliation of the accounts will be done and accounts debited with the number of trips made through each toll plaza. The Toll plaza will keep proof of the customer transactions through the plaza which can be made available to the customer should they believe their accounts were incorrectly debited.

We wish to affirm Intertoll Africa’s commitment in providing an efficient and hassle free service on behalf of our client (SANRAL). We regret the inconvenience caused over this period and apologise to our valued customers.

SIPHO THAMANE

Intertoll Operations Manager