What’s left of e-tolls will still be useful

Outstanding Gauteng e-toll debts are likely to be scrapped once the gantries are switched off on April 12, while the convenient e-tags are expected to continue operating on national tollways.

Gauteng’s e-tolls, which have been strongly resisted by motorists, would end next Friday, the government and the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) have announced.

The purple-lit gantries on the province’s highways have been defied by thousands of motorists since their introduction in December 2013, with many refusing to pay their e-toll bills.

The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), which has fought against e-tolls since their inception, said motorists were likely to get away with not paying a cent. This was because paying e-toll bills was never legislated, Outa CEO Wayne Duvenhage said.

“Sanral has no mechanism to force you to pay, which is why it failed with the e-tolls and they are closing it down. If you haven’t paid, the chances of them coming after you for that debt are slim to zero.

“What can they do about it? They can’t withhold your licence disc as they once threatened. They can’t withhold your driver’s licence or blacklist you. They can only file a summons to force you to pay, but they stopped doing that in March 2019 as it was not worth the effort any more,” he said.

The scrapping of the project will leave the province with 43 gantries placed 10km apart and the N1, N2, N12 and R21 lit up. However, they will be used as speed traps and for policing purposes such as finding stolen vehicles and identifying stolen and cloned number plates, Duvenhage said.

But motorists should not discard their e-tags, which were read by the gantries and at toll gates, as they are expected to be of use on national tollways.

“If you are going to Cape Town and there’s a toll gate the functionality of those tags will still apply on the long-distance toll plaza. If the car goes under a gantry it won’t work but the car will be charged on tollways. People will no longer be charged for e-tolls in Gauteng and a lot of people are likely to fit the e-tags for the use of long-distance toll gates,” he said.

The shutting down of e-tolls came after a meeting between the ministers of transport and finance and the Gauteng premier.

With motorists refusing to settle their toll debt to repay the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, an agreement was reached to finalise alternative funding solutions for the repayment, as well as to deal with the backlog of road maintenance and rehabilitation costs.

Sanral could not provide comment on the way forward, saying a media briefing would be held to provide clarity.

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