Gauteng government pays R3.8bn instalment for e-toll system, road users will not be refunded

The Gauteng government has begun servicing its debt for the now-defunct e-toll system.

The highly opposed system was shut down in April, leaving the provincial government in debt, including accumulative interest, to the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral). 

Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile told journalists on Monday paying off the historical debts would happen over five equal instalments over the next five years, including interest.

Finance minister Enoch Godongwana announced in the 2022 medium-term budget policy statement that resolving the funding issue of e-tolls would require a 30% contribution from the Gauteng government to settle Sanral's debt. The national government would cover the remaining 70%.

Gauteng's debt totals R20bn.

The first instalment of R3.8bn, which includes a maintenance portion of R546m, was paid on Monday.

We didn’t borrow money and we won’t borrow money.Gauteng finance MEC Lebogang Maile

“The province will need to allocate a substantial amount of funds each year for the next five years to meet the repayment obligations,” Maile said.

“We are working with revenue collecting departments to identify alternative sources of revenue to ensure frontline services remain uncompromised while safeguarding essential social services for vulnerable members of society and maintaining the provision of basic services.”

He said provincial departments and entities should also explore alternative sources of funding to make up for the constrained revenue streams.

There were no plans for a loan and the annual budget would source the money from three revenue streams.

“Every year we do a budget and there are streams [of revenue]. The first stream is called the equitable share — which is money that goes to provinces from the national government, based on set criteria. The second is conditional grants for roads or building houses — there are grants meant for that. Then there is our own revenue, which is money we raise.

“When we do the budget we allocate where the money goes, we assess the shortfalls and look at what is urgent. We didn’t borrow money and we won’t borrow money,” he said.

Regarding people who paid their e-toll bills in the past, Maile said they would not be refunded as the payments were made lawfully.

“When people were paying for e-tolls it was legal as they were using the service. They will not be paid back because it was not illegal and their money was not collected illegally.”

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