Spokesman Thabo Masebe said government had met the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), the Federation of Unions of SA (Fedusa), Business Unity SA and the Road Freight Agency during the week.

"What we've found is that government and the various organisations have become much closer... a lot of progress has been made and they're agreeing on most things," said Masebe.

Motlanthe heads the inter-ministerial committee on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

On Friday, the SABC reported that Motlanthe had given an indication that the tolls would go ahead during an interview with the broadcaster.

He was quoted as saying: "Almost all of them accepted the principle of user-paying. We hope to complete consultations by mid-week. We've already made progress with Cosatu and we all agreed that there is a debt that needs to be serviced and settled."

On Tuesday, it was reported that Outa representatives found its meeting with the deputy president "uneventful".

They reportedly said a "win-win solution" had yet to be reached.