By Staff Writer  
 
The South African government has announced final details of the scrapping of e-tolls in Gauteng, paving the way for long-term maintenance and development of freeways in the country’s economic capital. E-toll gantries will be switched off at midnight tomorrow (Thursday), meaning that road-users will no longer be charged for using freeways in the province.
 
Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga and Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi, as well as the leadership of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL), hosted a media briefing this (Wednesday) morning at SANRAL’s Central Operations Centre in Centurion to provide details of the scrapping of e-tolls.
 
Minister Chikunga indicated a notice was published in the Government Gazette at the end of March withdrawing the toll declaration for the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project which laid the ground for the gantries to be switched off.
 
“This declaration will be effective on 11 April 2024 at 23h59, which means that from 12 April 2024, road users will no longer be charged for the use of the e-toll network. This means that after midnight tomorrow (Thursday), e-tolls will no longer exist,” she said. “The roads that form part of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) will remain national roads and will continue to assist in facilitating economic growth in Gauteng, in turn stimulating the South African economy” the minister added.
 
The minister said announcement by Minister of Finance, Enoch Godongwana, in his 2022 Medium-Term Budget Policy Statement that e-tolls would be scrapped had set in motion a lengthy process towards the point at which government was finally switching off the gantries at midnight tomorrow.
 
“Between myself, as Minister of Transport, the Minister of Finance, Mr Enoch Godongwana, and the Premier of Gauteng, Mr Panyaza Lesufi, we finally reached agreement towards the end of March on how to conclusively deal with the debt resulting from e-tolls and, as a result, we were able to sign a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) to formalise alternative funding solutions for the GFIP debt repayment and deal with the backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation costs.”
 
Minister Chikunga further indicated government was still in discussion regarding the historical debt owed by motorists. Premier Lesufi said the provincial government and Gauteng residents were happy with the agreement to end e-tolls. He announced the provincial government has committed R4.1 billion as a contribution towards the maintenance backlog of GFIP roads, adding that the provincial government had a deep interest in Phases 2 and 3 of GFIP.
 
“We are more than excited with the agreement that has been reached because it means that Gauteng will benefit from the entire GFIP project over the longer term. We have a keen interest in the gantries and the cameras which go with them. Those cameras are crucial in the fight against crime. We want them connected to our Provincial Integrated Command Centre,” said the Premier.
 
SANRAL CEO Reginald Demana said the national roads agency was pleased the MOA to end e-tolls had unlocked borrowing limits in the bond market.  He revealed the “dispute over e-tolls prevented us from accessing private funding because we didn’t have the requisite borrowing limits”.
 
“Treasury has now approved the borrowing limits and investment in our freeways will unlock further investment as can be seen with the Waterfall development in Midrand and many other road infrastructure projects which will spur economic development in and around Gauteng and indeed across the country.”