Sanral is determined to go after people who don’t pay e-tolls
Amid reports that Sanral’s e-toll scheme has failed and may be on the chopping block, group CFO, Inge Mulder says that the agency is determined to go after those who are shirking their legal duty to pay up.
Speaking in an interview with CNBC Africa this week, Mulder hit back at claims that the roads agency has ‘written off’ R3.6 billion worth of debt owed in e-toll fees, saying that it was an impairment – which is akin to an assessment.
According to Mulder, this means that it’s up to management to assess the collectability of that outstanding amount, and the possible time it would take to collect it.
In effect, Sanral is saying that the R3.6 billion could still be collected – it just will not reflect on Sanral’s books for the 2016/17 financial year.
“The debt hasn’t been written off. They (debtors) still owe us the money, and we can still launch a civil claim or a criminal claim against those debtors,” Mulder said.
The CFO said that there is confusion in the public domain about whether Sanral can lawfully come after motorists for non-payment of e-tolls, which is a message that has been pushed by groups like Outa and JPSA.
Mulder said that the Sanral Act is clear in saying that non-payment of tolls is a criminal offence. This is why Sanral wants court processes around the issue to play out, she said, so that it can give motorists a clear indication that “this is not going away”.
“It’s not a question of people not being able to afford paying e-tolls, they’re waiting for a resolution or a clear indication that this will continue,” Mulder said.
If things continue as they are
Despite what Sanral would like, the group’s annual report for 2016/17 showed that there was widespread non-payment by Gauteng motorists, and it was having a major impact on the agency’s operations.
It was reported on Wednesday that Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi has been forced to reassess the system’s viability.
This came after Sanral CEO Skhumbuzo Macozoma conceded that resistance to e-tolls had brought Sanral to the brink of collapse, and has brought into question the agency’s going-concern status (whether it will remain in business for the foreseeable future).
Speaking at a portfolio committee on transport briefing this week, Macozoma said that the the road agency was re-evaluating its funding models for road development and maintenance, but that the final call would rest with the minister.
Mulder said that, currently, the biggest concern at Sanral is the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project – specifically e-toll and the collection of outstanding tariffs.
“The status has been reported to the minister, and the minister has asked us to provide a scenario on what will happen if things continue as they are.”
Without elaborating too much, Mulder said that if things continue as they are, the viability of the project “is not good”. “The project will not be able to repay its initial capital,” she said.
Mulder noted that the e-toll project is part of a whole toll portfolio, so one immediate effect from the current trend of non-payment is that Sanral cannot do other projects until it has resolved the e-toll situation.
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