Render unto Sanral - Mboweni tells agency to reverse its e-toll decision

Finance minister Tito Mboweni has called on national roads agency Sanral to immediately reverse its decision to halt e-tolls debt collection.

The decision by Sanral to stop trying to collect debt from motorists follows years of resistance to the multibillion-rand e-tolls project by civil organisations and motorists. The decision was made on Tuesday, but announced on Wednesday.

By November 2017, motorists in Gauteng owed R9.2bn.

However, Mboweni said on Thursday he was was not happy with Sanral's decision, saying  it undermined what the Treasury had said in its budget - that it supported the "user must pay" principle.

Mboweni made the comments during the introduction of the new South African Revenue Service (Sars) commission, Edward Kieswetter, in Pretoria.

"They must reverse that decision immediately or else this has implications for the bond market. It has implications for the fiscus. It has implications for their own credit rating and the credit rating for the country," Mboweni said.

Mboweni said people should ensure they did not take careless decisions in the middle of a very difficult financial situation.

"So pay your taxes, render unto Caesar what belongs to Caesar," Mboweni said, quoting Jesus in the Bible.