Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga: Media briefing on e-tolls

10 April 2024

Gauteng Premier, Mr Panyaza Lesufi
MEC of Transport and Logistics in the Province of Gauteng: Ms Kedibone Diale-Tlabela
Special Advisors to the Minister and the Premier
The Deputy Director-General for Roads in the National Department of Transport: Mr Chris Hlabisa
SANRAL Board Chair, Mr Themba Mhambi, and other Board members
SANRAL CEO, Reginald Demana, and executives and staff of our national roads agency
Officials from the National Treasury, Department of Transport, Gauteng Provincial Government and SANRAL
Ladies and gentlemen of the media
Concerned citizens who are following us via various platforms.

At the end of last month, I published in the Government Gazette a notice concerning the withdrawal of the toll declaration of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Projects, popularly known as e-tolls.

This declaration will be effective on 11 April 2024 at 23h59, which means that from 12 April 2024, road users will no longer be charged for the use of the e-toll network.  This means that after midnight tomorrow, e-tolls will no longer exist. However, the ring roads that formed part of this scheme will remain national roads.

It has been a long process which started in December 2013 after we upgraded parts of important national roads in Gauteng which had come a few years before that (in 2008) to ensure that the economic hub of South Africa is not jeopardized by poor roads. Before the upgrades, the roads were extremely congested and had a negative effect on the country’s economy.

The system of e-tolling was implemented after some consultation had taken place. Was it enough and could we have done stakeholder engagement differently? Clearly, the resistance by Gauteng motorists and various other stakeholders suggests we could have consulted widely and done things differently. But that is now water under the bridge.

This matter caused a lot of public aggravation and was indeed of great concern to Cabinet. It is a concern that led to the formation of three-member committee – made up of the Minister of Transport, Minister of Finance and Gauteng Premier – charged by President Cyril Ramaphosa in July 2019 to find a solution to the impasse.

One of the issues we had to grapple with as a committee was how SANRAL was going to repay the debt it incurred to build this infrastructure and how do we ensure that the roads remain up to the standards to which our road users have now become accustomed.

It has not been an easy process and decision because we essentially were being asked to deviate from a principle that is universally accepted: you have to pay for whatever you use.

You will recall that Minister of Finance Enoch Godongwana announced in his Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement in 2022 that alternative funding is being found for the GFIP debt, effectively ending e-tolls.

When the Minister of Finance made this announcement, he was not incorrect, but there was still a long road ahead.

Between myself, as Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwna, and the Gauteng Premier, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, we finally reached agreement towards the end of March on how to conclusively deal with the debt resulting from e-tolls and, as a result, we were able to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to formalise alternative funding solutions for the GFIP debt repayment and deal with the backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation costs.

We agreed that the MoA would also regulate the financial and funding contribution towards the SANRAL liability in compliance with the policy objectives and institutional framework for road infrastructure management in South Africa.

We were unanimous that terms needed to be set in black and white on the MoA for the Gauteng Province to contribute to the backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation costs.

We emphasised the fact that the government was already far advanced with its plans to repurpose the e-toll infrastructure to improve mobility, road safety, and combat crime.

And we were unambiguous on the fact that the user-pay principle remains a government policy and commit to continually engage and work together to explore adequate and sustainable funding solutions for road construction, maintenance, and upgrade to support economic development.

Following the announcement by national government that e-tolls in Gauteng have been officially cancelled, SANRAL has resolved its long outstanding application for increased borrowing limits from Treasury.

This will allow the Agency to approach the market to unlock funding from the private sector to fund its existing pipeline of capital expenditure projects. The SANRAL CEO and his colleagues will elaborate on this in the second part of the media briefing.  

We hope that the resolution of the GFIP funding and the resultant withdrawal of e-tolls will give Gauteng motorists and South Africans in general certainty after a long period of uncertainty. It is important to note that, while these roads are no longer going to be tolled, the benefits of improved roads remain and that the gantries which have been installed for use on this scheme will continue to be used for other functions, such as fighting crime.

So allow me to give you a high level overview of the process as it will unfold:

On 11 April 2024 at 23:59:59, road users will no longer be charged for the use of the Gauteng e-toll routes:

The obligation to pay e-toll remains till midnight on 11 April 2024.

Road-users will not be required to do anything when e-tolling is cancelled.

Importantly, ‘current valid accounts’ can still be used for payments at toll plazas and other Value-Added Services (i.e Parking). This is critical for the ongoing, long-term benefit of inter-operability.

The tag beeps will stop after midnight on 11 April 2024.

The gantry lights and cameras will remain on for road safety purposes.

The e-toll website will be updated with respect to the cancellation, including Mobility/Tag account functionality for services, i.e. interoperability and parking, etc.

The e-toll stores will remain open as the tag can still be used for interoperability, account queries and other potential transport related services that will be determined in due course. The e-toll branding will be removed in phases.

E-toll invoices will be rolled up until the last day and issued up until this period. Due to potential delays in the postal system, invoices will still be received some time after 12 April 2024. However, no transactions post-midnight on 11 April 2024 will appear on the invoice or statement.

I trust that the public realises that government listens and, where possible, it will act to resolve issues that affect the public. We understand that the resolution of this issue might have taken longer than some people wanted, but it involved complex negotiations which were handled in a mature and professional manner by all concerned. We must now move forward as a nation and continue to build on the significant progress that we have made as a country in our first 30 years of democracy.

I thank you.

Issued by Department of Transport, 10 April 2024