E-toll (South Africa)

e-toll
LocationGauteng
LaunchedDecember 3, 2013; 10 years ago (2013-12-03)
DiscontinuedApril 12, 2024; 6 months ago (2024-04-12)
CurrencyRand
Websitesanral.co.za

e-toll (in South Africa) consisted of the electronic toll collection (ETC) processes employed by South Africa's roads agency SANRAL on selected toll roads or toll lanes in the Gauteng province, subject to the Sanral Act of 1998. SANRAL derives its income both from toll income and the national fiscus, while initial capital outlay for large projects are funded by open market bond issues.[1] In total SANRAL manages 13,000 km of non-toll roads in South Africa, besides the majority (or 2,952 km)[2] of its toll roads, including 187 km of Gauteng's freeways which were subject to e-toll.[3]

The two main ETC methods were "Boom-down" electronic toll collection and open road tolling (ORT). The systems were designed to fund the R20 billion highway upgrade program (GFIP or Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project) which was implemented in 2007 and largely completed by April 2011.[4] Open road tolling went live in Gauteng province on December 3, 2013,[5] when the province had some 3.5 million registered vehicles.[1]

In October 2022, it was announced that e-tolling on Gauteng freeways would be shut down.[6][7][8] It was also announced that customers who paid their e-tolls would be refunded their money.[9] It was agreed that the R20 billion needed by SANRAL to pay back creditors for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) would be granted to them by the Gauteng Provincial Government (30%) and the National Treasury of South Africa (70%).[7]

However, by 2023, e-tolls were not yet officially shut down on the Gauteng freeways by the Ministry of Transport (they still charged motorists).[10][11][12] The South African government then announced on 28 March 2024[13] that e-tolls in Gauteng would officially be scrapped and gantries would be disconnected and dismantled by the end of the 11th of April 2024, at midnight.[14][15]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference san was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Seema, Masego (1 February 2019). "SANRAL Press Release: 2019 toll tariff adjustments". pressoffice.mg.co.za/sanral/. Meropa. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  3. ^ Daniel, Luke (2018-10-04). "Sanral says all e-tolls defaulters will be summoned to court". thesouthafrican.com. The South African. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
  4. ^ "FAQs on the Gauteng eTolls". aa.co.za. AA. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  5. ^ "E-tolls going live in Gauteng". fin24.com. November 20, 2013. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  6. ^ "Business and motorists still receiving e-tolls bills, Outa says". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  7. ^ a b "E-tolls permanently scrapped: Lesufi". SABC News. 2023-02-21. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  8. ^ "Lesufi confirms e-toll gantries to be disabled | eNCA". www.enca.com. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  9. ^ "Motorists who paid e-tolls will be refunded, confirms Lesufi". TimesLIVE. Retrieved 2023-04-08.
  10. ^ "E-tolls sticking around for longer". BusinessTech. July 2023. Retrieved 18 September 2023.
  11. ^ Esnor, Linda. "Godongwana explains Gauteng e-toll delay". BusinessLIVE. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  12. ^ Cokayne, Roy (2023-10-16). "National government is delaying the scrapping of e-tolls – Lesufi". Moneyweb. Retrieved 2023-12-15.
  13. ^ Fraser, Luke (28 March 2024). "E-tolls to officially end next month". BusinessTech. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  14. ^ South African Government ends e-tolls in Gauteng press release published 28th of March 2024, retrieved and archived 5th of April 2024 [1]
  15. ^ Njilo, Nonkululeko (2024-04-10). "Gauteng set to finally end e-tolls, overdue fees remain". Daily Maverick. Retrieved 2024-04-12.