Mr Premier, it is time to scrap e-tolls

The Organsisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) welcomes the Gauteng ANC’s resolution to scrap the e-toll scheme as too much of a financial burden on motorists and commuters.

OUTA has been opposing the e-toll scheme since 2012 and it appears that Government has now realised the extent of the scheme's failure.

OUTA has previously written extensive reports on why the e-toll scheme would fail and recently delivered a comprehensive report to the Presidency and the Ministers of the Economic Cluster, showing that e-tolls have failed and it now costs SANRAL more to collect outstanding e-toll fees than it ultimately collects from motorists. This report formed part of OUTA’s proposals to the Ministers on how to bring down the fuel price and the cost of transport in general.

Currently around 25% of motorists pay their e-toll accounts and, during the 2017/18 financial year, SANRAL and its agency Electronic Toll Collection (ETC) collected only R725 million against invoices issued for R2.7 billion. The administration costs related to collection for the same period were about R650 million, excluding any costs allocated to SANRAL’s legal expenses or the costs of the summonses issued. OUTA’s attorneys are currently defending almost 1 000 cases on behalf of OUTA supporters. There are approximately two million motorists that SANRAL and ETC would have to sue to collect the outstanding toll fees.

By revoking the regulations that declared the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) freeways as toll roads, SANRAL will save millions of rand.

OUTA calls on the Gauteng ANC, Gauteng Premier David Makhura and the Gauteng Legislature to go beyond the talking apply pressure on national Government to scrap e-tolls and withdraw all pending legal action, to bring an end to this illegitimate scheme.