Gauteng’s suspended electronic tolling system is readying to launch, with 1300 people working across a range of operations including in a violations processing centre, an accounts management facility and a road-side system.
The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), which is due to run the system, also revealed on Wednesday that it was looking to extend usage of Gauteng’s e-tags to toll plazas throughout South Africa to prevent congestion. However, the Department of Transport had yet to make a decision on this.
About 10 000 Gauteng road users have been “using e-toll accounts successfully” to pay tolls at the Bakwena facilities on the N1 and N4 highways, Sanral project manager Alex van Niekerk said at a briefing on Wednesday.
New e-toll tariffs were gazetted last month and would be subject to a 30-day public and stakeholder consultation process. Proposals stipulated a tariff of about 30c/km for light vehicles capped at R550 a month for light vehicles.
Department spokesperson Tiyani Rikhotso said stakeholder engagements led to a “meeting of minds” where concerns had been addressed. Improved road infrastructure would limit congestion and make road use safer, he said.
Mr Rikhotso also said engagements set for next week would deal solely with matters stipulated in the recent gazette.
Following this consultation period, final tariffs would be announced, after which tolling could commence within 14 days.
According to Sanral, most light motor vehicle users would pay less than R200 a month in toll fees.
Registration for e-tags slowed after the initial suspension of the controversial system in April when about 500 000 road users had already bought tags.
While Sanral is preparing to commence e-tolling in Gauteng, the Congress of South African Trade Unions on Wednesday again urged road users not to purchase e-tags, saying government had to “communicate a recommendation to Cabinet to immediately halt the Gauteng open tolls for good”.
“It will not just affect the people of Gauteng, as the government has now conceded that e-tolling will replace the existing toll gates throughout the country,” it said.
