E-toll waiting game breeds uncertainty
National road agency Sanral says that e-tolling in Gauteng is still alive – but the group has long since stopped chasing motorists who refuse to pay their bills and is confident that the government will settle the debt bill.
In the group’s annual report for the 2022/23 financial year, it noted that uncertainty around the future of e-tolls and the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) still persists, especially given the fact that the government has still not concluded its agreements and conditions for the bailout that would ultimately see the system scrapped.
On 26 October 2022, the Minister of Finance announced that a Special Appropriation of R23.736 billion for the 2022/23 financial year would be given to Sanral to settle maturing debt and debt-related obligations on the toll portfolio.
The minister also indicated that an agreement with the Gauteng Provincial Government was reached to settle GFIP debt with 30/70 split between the Gauteng government and the national government – further details of which would be agreed to determine the final outcome on GFIP.
The approved allocation to Sanral was paid out in two tranches. The first tranche of R8.980 billion was received in January 2023 after the Special Appropriation Bill was promulgated into law.
The second tranche of R14.76 billion was received on 31 March 2023.
However, Sanral noted that some of the transfer conditions had not been met at year-end (31 March 2023).
“Sanral can only recognise this amount as an equity injection on its balance sheet once all the conditions are met. The amount was allocated specifically for settlement of maturing toll debt and all debt redemption obligations that became due since,” it said.
This means that the e-tolling system – and its related debts – are still on Sanral’s books until the matter is concluded.
“The tolling on GFIP continued until year-end and will require a gazette to stop charging toll fees to the customers/road users on the 201km in Gauteng,” Sanral said.
Unpaid e-tolls
Despite the e-tolling system still being in effect on a regulatory and technical level, Sanral is not chasing up motorists who haven’t paid their bills.
100% of this historic debt has been impaired, it said.
The group has also stopped issuing summons to the public – a position it has held since March 2019, it said.
“The board stopped the issuance of the summons to the public on 27 March 2019 for Gauteng open-road tolling (GORT) debt. In October 2022 the Minister of Finance announced that the outstanding borrowing for GFIP will be paid by the government.
“The outcome of the agreement between the Gauteng provincial government, National Treasury and the Department of Transport will determine the way forward for debtors,” it said.
Sanral noted that the collections of old debt have also been very low and that the recoverability rate on historical debt transferred to collection is less than 1%.
“It is anticipated that due to uncertainties on the future of GFIP and existing debt, the VPC debt is considered irrecoverable. The recoveries from the old debt are very insignificant. Therefore, the default rate was set at 100%, which is consistent with prior years,” it said.
Government’s next move
However, recent commentary from the National Treasury has sparked worries that, if not Sanral, then perhaps the Gauteng government will be looking to seek out this historic debt.
Responding to a recent Parliamentary Q&A, Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana said the system would only be turned off once a binding agreement is signed between the Gauteng Provincial Government and the National Government on the province’s financial commitments to paying off the debt.
He added that the outstanding issues related to the signing of a binding agreement include:
- The provincial funding sources for the backlog maintenance and rehabilitation of the network and the duration over which this will be done; and
- Clarity on the province’s position and the costs associated with recovering funds from defaulting road users who have not paid tolls while the system was operational.
This suggests that road users who did not pay their e-toll accounts over the course of the last ten years might still be liable to settle their debts before the scheme is officially shut down.
Godongwana’s statement is contrary to previous statements from Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi who had indicated the opposite: that those who had been paying e-tolls would be refunded.
In August, the Department of Transport indicated that there were no plans in place to actually shut the system down. No plans had been approved, and no solutions were in sight.
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