End of the road for e-tolls
“Although e-toll has not been officially scrapped, the fact that the state is taking over e-toll’s debts for all practical purposes means the end of this system.”
For ten years, civil rights organisations, trade unions, political parties and motorists have battled to end e-tolls.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana, in his mid-term budget speech on Wednesday, October 26, announced that the state will take over the SA national roads agency’s (Sanral) e-toll debt of R23.7 billion.
This effectively puts the fate of the controversial tolling system in the hands of the Gauteng government.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi said: “We heard you people of Gauteng. As per the announcement by Minister Godongwana we have agreed to the formulation of a new revenue enhancement model which excludes tolling. We are now ready to start a new life without e-tolls in Gauteng. This was not an easy decision but necessary.”
“Now that the e-tolls are done [with], our next task is to tackle, harshly so, crime, corruption, lawlessness and vandalism in Gauteng. Watch this space.”
Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) CEO Wayne Duvenage said: “This is a clear indication to Outa that the e-tolling of the Gauteng freeways will be halted, and the funding mechanism has been shifted to National Treasury and Gauteng provincial government allocations, a solution that Outa proposed to the government over a decade ago.”
According to Outa, e-toll compliance was at only 17.65%, with the scheme running up R9.7-billion in uncollectable debt from motorists who have refused to pay their e-toll bills since December 2013.
E-tolling was introduced by the Transport Department in December 2013 as a measure to collect the money to service the huge loan Sanral made to upgrade Gauteng highways.
Watch Outa CEO Duvenage explain the e-toll situation
“AfriForum’s 10-year struggle to get rid of e-tolls has reached a satisfying end,” said the civil rights organisation.
For years AfriForum encouraged members to not register for e-tolls as a protest.
“Although e-toll has not been officially scrapped, the fact that the state is taking over e-toll debt, for all practical purposes means the end of this system.
“AfriForum welcomes the fact that e-toll has reached the end of the road. We thank all members of the public and organisations who helped in the fight against it. This once again shows the strength of civil society,” says Reiner Duvenage, a spokesperson for AfriForum.
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For some time, the Gauteng government has been interested in scrapping e-tolls but met resistance from the national government.
In 2019, then-premier David Makhura said during his state of the province address that attempts by his administration to scrap e-tolling had met resistance from the national government.
“The admission by Makhura that e-tolls were a mistake and that all efforts to save them have failed should send a clear message to both Sanral and the national government that it is time to give up and scrap them altogether,” said Cosatu spokesperson Sizwe Pamla in 2019.
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