Sanral operating normally after powder scare

Johannesburg - Sanral was operating at full capacity on Wednesday following an evacuation of the building, the Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) said.

"Employees are back at work today, and everything is running normally," said ETC CEO Jamie Surkont.

The Tshwane hazardous material unit was called to the SA National Roads Agency Limited's nerve centre on Tuesday afternoon after a "suspicious envelope containing a white substance" was found on the premises.

The building was evacuated and its electricity shut down.

Thirty-seven people were decontaminated and hospitalised as a precautionary measure.

All of them had been discharged by Wednesday morning, said Surkont.

On Tuesday, Sanral said the evacuation had disrupted the Gauteng highway tolling system, but Surkont said it remained operational. Biological testing revealed that the powder was not anthrax.