The disastrous e-tolls project in Gauteng was meant to come to an end on Saturday, 31 December 2022. However, the deactivation date has now been pushed back to early 2023.

According to a statement issued by the Gauteng provincial government on Saturday, key components of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between the national and provincial governments still needed to be finalised.

Key components

One key component is the duration of payments due by the Gauteng provincial government, which has agreed to pay 30% of Sanral’s R47-billion debt, said Vuyo Mhaga, spokesperson for Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi. The national government has agreed to cover 70% of Sanral’s debt.

The maintenance of national roads in the Gauteng region is another issue that needs to be finalised in the MOU, said Mhaga.

‘Positive move’

Mhaga said it was the “collective view” of the Gauteng government and the people of the province that doing away with e-tolls was a positive move. 

“When [Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana], during his mid-term budget, announced that e-tolls would be done away with, all of us were quite pleased,” he said.

Finalisation of the MOU is a priority for the Gauteng provincial government, Mhaga said, adding that the government was aiming for this to happen later this month.

“As soon as the MOU is clarified, the better for everyone,” he said.

The e-tolls will be switched off within 14 days of notification appearing in the Government Gazette.

Frustrations

The head of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa), Wayne Duvenage, has expressed frustrations with the Gauteng government’s delay in deactivation.

Duvenage considers the e-toll tariffs as unnecessary costs for individuals and businesses, saying that fewer than 10% of motorists were still paying their e-toll bills.

“Those people who are paying must know that the likelihood of them getting refunded is slim to zero. Which means that if anyone is still paying — now that the government has said they are scrapping it — they are wasting their money. They really should stop paying now. There are going to be no negative consequences,” Duvenage said.

Visit Daily Maverick’s home page for more news, analysis and investigations

E-toll tariffs vary depending on the route, gantry and vehicle type. 

The tolling of certain roads was introduced on 3 December 2013 and, said Duvenhage, the tolls were grossly overpriced and irrational.

Duvenage also claims the e-toll scheme is corrupt.

“The roads cost three times more than they should have, so we were over-paying. The administration costs of the e-toll scheme were 30% of the revenue. Now, in any scheme like this around the world, our research shows that the administration costs shouldn’t be more than 10%.”

He described e-tolls as an “abusive system”.

“This is the only province that applied the e-tolling system… It’s right that the Gauteng province shouldn’t have to pay,” said Duvenage. DM