Gauteng Premier calls for patience amid ongoing e-toll billing issues

Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi has pleaded for patience after being quizzed about the scrapping of e-tolls in April last year, yet some motorists are still complaining about receiving their bills.

Answering oral questions at the Gauteng Provincial Legislature (GPL) on Tuesday, Lesufi said his administration held a meeting in January this year with Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and a team from the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).

“In the meeting, the issue of the e-tolls and all e-tolls-related matters was on the agenda and we had extensive discussions and immediately after those discussions, the minister pleaded with us, of which we concurred, that we leave all e-tolls-related matters to herself as well as the board of Sanral,” he said in response to questions from leader of the opposition in the GPL Solly Msimanga.

Lesufi added that as soon as the board of Sanral concludes its value proposal on all the matters that the provincial government has raised, it will be in a position to update the Gauteng executive council.

“We are still awaiting this update. As soon as we get this update, we will be in a position to fully respond to all the issues you have raised,” he said.

Msimanga had asked if Lesufi was aware of reports that some Gauteng residents are still receiving e-toll statements or bills after the official scrapping of e-tolls on April 11, 2024.

He also wanted to establish what steps were being taken to investigate and halt the erroneous billings and demanded clarity on whether the provincial government was pursuing the collection of historical e-toll debts incurred before April last year.

Additionally, Msimanga asked the premier if he had engaged Sanral to ensure that its billing systems were fully updated after the e-toll gantries were disconnected, and the action and steps he would take to address any financial or administrative burdens caused by post-scrapping billing errors.

In September, the provincial government started the process to service the historical debt of R12.9 billion in five equal annual instalments at a government five-year interest rate. It paid the first instalment of R3.8bn, consisting of R3.2bn (historical debt) and a maintenance portion of R546 million.

At the time, it indicated that the implications of the e-toll debt require the provincial government to manage its finances prudently while carefully balancing citizens’ service delivery needs.

In 2022, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that to resolve the funding impasse of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, the e-tolls’ official name, the provincial government agreed to contribute 30% to settling Sanral’s debt and interest obligations, while the national government would cover 70%.

loyiso.sidimba@inl.co.za