E-TOLLS TO OFFICIALLY END FROM APRIL 12 ON SOME GAUTENG ROADS

Thu 28 March 2024:

The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) says e-tolls will end on Thursday, 11 April 2024.

According to a government gazette signed off by the Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, the Gauteng Free Improvement Project (GFIP) will no longer be toll routes.

This follows a meeting between the Minister of Transport, Minister of Finance and the Premier of Gauteng, where an agreement was reached to bring the urban e-tolling in Gauteng to an end.

An agreement was also reached to formalise alternative funding solutions for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project’s debt repayment and deal with the backlog of road maintenance and rehabilitation costs.

Transport Department spokesperson Collen Msibi says, “This is quite a victory for the people of Gauteng who have been complaining about the issue of e tolls so we are quite happy to say that the issue of the e-tolls infrastructure will continue to be used by the Department of Transport for issues of road safety as well as fighting crime.”

The e-toll system, which was met by public resistance, was launched in 2013 in Gauteng to improve the state of the provincial roads.

After 14 years of the controversial system, managed by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), from 11 April the gantries in Gauteng will be switched off on the N1, N12, N3, N4 and the R21.

The switching off of the e-tolls comes 11 days later than the promised deadline by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.

During his State of the Province Address (SOPA) in February, Lesufi set a deadline for 31 March to switch off the e-toll system.

Since its inception, the project, which forced motorists travelling on certain highways in Johannesburg and Tshwane to pay, was widely rejected.

The Gauteng government is expected to pay off 30% of the R43 million owed to SANRAL for the project, with the rest of the bill set to be paid off by National Treasury.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

______________________________________________________________

FOLLOW INDEPENDENT PRESS:

WhatsApp CHANNEL
https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaAtNxX8fewmiFmN7N22