Sanral shutting e-toll shops

·14 Jan 2015

A number of e-toll outlets around Gauteng are closing their doors, leading to speculation that the system is being quietly phased out.

However, the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has clarified that the closures are part of the planned evolution of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

Most of the closures reported involved what Sanral referred to as “temporary kiosks”. There were 26 of these kiosks when the e-tolling system launched.

There were also 16 permanent outlets in malls at launch, and another 4 along the Gauteng e-road.

Of those initial 46 outlets, 35 remain open, Sanral said.

The long awaited report on e-tolls is expected to be released on Thursday (15 January), and aims to provide a way forward for the system which has been largely rejected by Gauteng’s road users.

This is according to Jacaranda FM, citing Thabo Masebe, a spokesperson for the Gauteng Premier, David Makhura.

Masebe said that that the executive council will meet on Thursday, after which it will release the report.

The panel was appointed by Makhura in July to examine the economic and social impact of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project and the e-tolling system set up to fund it.

PowerFM last week (9 January) stated that the e-toll panel report would recommend that e-tags become compulsory, suggesting that cars be fitted with e-tags before leaving dealerships.

The radio station claimed to have seen part of the e-toll review report and claimed that there could be a possible reduction in the maximum cap on e-tolling.

Masebe however, said that none of the media who claimed to have seen the report had done so.

This article first appeared on MyBroadband