South Africa: Government Announces Gauteng E-Toll Debt Write-Off - - but No Refunds If You Paid

By Estelle Ellis

The Gauteng government has announced a write-off of all e-toll debt, providing relief, but motorists who paid are left out of pocket.

The government has announced the write-off of all e-toll debt in Gauteng, marking victory in what is the first major taxpayer revolt in democratic South Africa.

Collection will cease immediately.

But, those who paid their e-tolls will not be refunded as they had paid what was legally due.

Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy said on Sunday that both she and her deputy, Mkhuleko Hlengwa, welcomed the Cabinet decision to green-light Sanral's closure of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project's (GFIP's) historical e-toll debt.

This will include two matters: the closure of all historical e-toll debt and the resolution of all outstanding litigation matters

The statement said the decision was a long-awaited step in closing the GFIP e-toll saga in an orderly and responsible manner.

Creecy and Hlengwa said this brought much-needed relief and lessened the financial burden to road users hard-pressed by high fuel costs due to unfolding geopolitical issues.

GFIP was implemented and operated under the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) in terms of the applicable tolling framework and approvals that were in place at the time. The e-toll system was introduced as a funding mechanism for the upgraded Gauteng freeway network.

The approval follows the government's...

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