Share

Where your e-toll billions are going

Cape Town – Following the Department of Transport’s revelation this month that R2.2bn has been paid to an Austrian firm to collect e-toll fees, action group OUTA has calculated that this makes up 74% of the system’s total e-toll income.

Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi said in a parliamentary response earlier this month that Austrian-owned e-toll collection company ETC received R2.2bn for full toll operations since the inception of e-tolls on 3 December 2013. 

OUTA has calculated that the total income received from December 2013 to March 2017 was R2.9bn, meaning that 74% of that was being paid to the foreign company.

“At an average of R55m per month paid to ETC, and with the current e-toll income levels at around R63m per month, virtually no money is going toward the e-toll bonds,” OUTA said in a statement on Monday.

“This is clearly a problem for Sanral and explains why their bond auctions are not attracting any investors, pushing this state-owned entity to the brink of financial failure,” it said.  

Maswanganyi also revealed in a parliamentary response earlier this month that only 29% of the invoices issued in the last 24 months had been paid.

“Our assessment of Sanral’s latest reporting indicates they are not accounting for e-toll revenues billed at the punitive tariffs, but instead are reflecting their invoicing and outstanding revenues at the discounted e-tag rates,” OUTA chairperson Wayne Duvenage said on Monday.  

OUTA and Sanral are involved in a test case over the e-toll system.

Duvenage said OUTA had filed its papers in response to Sanral’s declarations against its members, who are non-paying road users. “We believe our cases are all extremely strong,” said Duvenage.

“Not only are Sanral going to be faced with a tough challenge when it comes to defending the lawfulness of the e-toll decision on constitutional grounds, but we have also uncovered numerous failures when it comes to billing errors and processes within the scheme.”

Responding to the court action, Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona told Fin24 in late May that “OUTA continues to state that tolling is illegal and users don’t need to pay, which in our opinion is incorrect and does not reflect the findings in the previous court decisions”.  

“We reiterate that the Public Finance Management Act requires Sanral as an agency of government to take all necessary steps to collect what is owed to the state.

“In Sanral’s opinion, legal certainty was previously provided by various courts, i.e. the Constitutional Court, High Court and Supreme Court of Appeal and the plea filed does not appear to introduce any new material matters which were not previously before the courts.”

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE UPDATE: Get Fin24's top morning business news and opinions in your inbox

Read Fin24's top stories trending on Twitter:

We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.07
-0.8%
Rand - Pound
24.01
-0.5%
Rand - Euro
20.55
-0.4%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.37
-0.1%
Rand - Yen
0.13
-0.8%
Platinum
890.97
-0.7%
Palladium
988.99
-1.3%
Gold
2,196.11
+0.1%
Silver
24.43
-0.9%
Brent Crude
86.09
-0.2%
Top 40
67,857
+0.3%
All Share
74,039
+0.2%
Resource 10
56,172
+0.9%
Industrial 25
103,559
+0.3%
Financial 15
16,472
-0.3%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders