Sanral board suspends e-toll debt collection process

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) has decided to no longer pursue the collection of e-toll debt.

The decision was made during a board meeting held by the board of directors on Tuesday. 

“It resolved that given the initiative led by President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the e-tolls payment impasse, Sanral will, with immediate effect, suspend the process of pursuing e-toll debt. This includes historic debt and summonses applied for from 2015,” Sanral’s media statement reads. 

E-tolls, which were completed and went live in 2013, were designed to fund the R20 billion Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. The project has however been met with resistance from South African tax payers and lobby groups, who feel the decision to impose tolling was ill-conceived and done without proper engagement. 

Majority of South Africans boycotted the system and refused to pay monthly bills, with some businesses racking up millions in arrears. Certain cases were pursued by the courts and many South Africans received communication from Sanral threatening legal action, which never amounted to anything. Now, however, SA drivers are off the hook.