Sorry about e-tolls, we could have done better: transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga

Transport minister Sindisiwe Chikunga has admitted the government could have “done things differently” with regards to the controversial e-tolls project, as she grudgingly apologised to citizens for the decade-long debacle but stopped short of conceding that the consultation process was inadequate.

This as she gave a detailed breakdown on what will happen on Friday midnight once the scheme is finally scrapped.

Chikunga made these admissions during a briefing at the SA National Roads Agency's (Sanral) central operations centre in Centurion on Wednesday.

She was joined by Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi, Sanral board chair Themba Mhambi and CEO Reginald Demana. All four outlined the next steps once the scheme ends on Friday, which will be two weeks after a government gazette confirming its demise.

The minister said Sanral withdrew the toll declaration on seven sections of the national roads which formed part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) and had electronic tolling.

The purple-lit gantries on the province's highways have been defied by thousands of motorists since their introduction in December 2013, with most refusing to pay their e-toll bills.

The scrapping of the project will leave the province with 43 gantries placed 10km apart and the N1, N2, N12 and R21 lit up. The gantries will mostly be repurposed by the Gauteng government for various initiatives.

Chikunga explained what would happen on Thursday, a second before midnight.

"[On Thursday] April 11 at 23:59:59 road users will no longer be charged for the use of the e-toll roads. The obligation to pay e-tolls remains till midnight. Road users will no longer be required to do anything when e-tolls are cancelled [but] importantly, current valid accounts can still be used for payment at toll plazas and for other value-added services, including parking.

“The tag beeps will stop at midnight, the gantry lights and cameras will remain on for road safety purposes and for crime-fighting.

“The e-toll website will be updated with respect to the cancellation and the e-toll stalls 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.”

Next to go will be the e-toll branding, which will be removed in phases. Invoices will be still be issued until Thursday and while some may reach motorists after Friday, “no transactions post midnight will appear on the invoice”, she said.

“After midnight [Friday], e-tolls will no longer exist in South Africa.”

The minister said while the system had been implemented after “some consultation”, it was clearly not enough as “the resistance by Gauteng motorists ... suggest we could've consulted widely and done things differently”.

“Was it adequate? That can be debated because sometimes you don't know what adequate consultation is or what inadequate consultation is. However, the people said it was not adequate and therefore we listened and that is why we are where we are today.

“For the mere fact that we are ... stopping e-tolls, it actually means that we're not only saying sorry but we're saying we've heard you.”

Chikunga clarified that motorists will still be obliged to pay their debt until Friday, as legislated for, but discussions on enforcing this are ongoing.

Elaborating, Demana said the latest charges would remain in motorists' accounts for 30 days after Thursday. After that, those who open accounts will start on a “clean slate” and will not be charged for historic debt.

“The policymakers will decide what to do with debt that is older,” he said.

The maintenance of Gauteng roads will remain a function of Sanral, officials said, with the R4.1bn the Gauteng government is set to pay over four years going towards addressing the maintenance backlog. While this overall bill is between R10bn and R12bn, the remaining balance will come from grants Sanral receives from the national government, Demana said.

“The maintenance of the roads Gauteng is paying for is what we call maintenance backlog and it's limited to R4.1bn. It's the backlog, similar to what you see on the R21 to the airport. We [Sanral] have done maintenance using money collected from the e-toll scheme and because we didn't collect enough, national government was assisting with managing the debt [and] Gauteng graciously agreed to cover the backlog.”

Commenting on what will happen to the e-toll infrastructure, Lesufi said: “We need these cameras. All these gantries, there are CCTV cameras and they are crucial in fighting crime, tracking missing cars or lost goods and missing individuals. We have a huge interest in ensuring these cameras are connected to our command centre.”

The infrastructure would be used to help plug the revenue gap created by the scrapping of the system, he said. The government is also considering repurposing e-toll offices and kiosks around the province as traffic department services. Discussions were ongoing on using the gantries to police speeding cars.

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