By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi says that people who have paid their e-tolls over the years will have their money refunded.
Lesufi said that the decision on whether or not to refund Gauteng motorists was one of the key issues that led to the delay of the e-tolling system being scrapped on 31 December 2022 as planned.
He said that the full scrapping of e-tolls in Gauteng is a legislative process that necessitates regulation changes through the publishing of a gazette – but there have been differences between the national and provincial governments on the details.
A decision still has to be taken on what form such refunds will take – for example, in cash or as credit for future use of other toll roads, according to Lesufi.
Many of the compliant road users are businesses and freight companies, as well as foreigners who preferred the convenience of e-tolls over manual payments. A decision on the matter will be made and announced during the state of the province address later this month, he said.
Despite a looming refund for compliant users, the matter of Gauteng’s e-toll debt remains.
Lesufi said that the 30% committed by the province to pay off the debt amounts to around R12 billion and that this needs to be paid. The province is currently negotiating favourable terms for the repayment, with the premier hoping for a 20-year payment period.
“This will give us some breathing room,” he said. “This way, we can use various mechanisms to raise revenue.”
The SA National Road Agency had struggled to recover costs of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project through e-tolls, with many motorists failing to pay them. The e-tolls also faced opposition from civil society groups like OUTA and labour federation Cosatu.
This ultimately pushed Sanral’s debt burden to over R40 billion.
Last year, at the tabling of the medium-term budget policy statement, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana announced that government would take on 70% of Sanral’s debt, while the province would take on 30%.