This information corresponds with the E-tag count that Outa conducted in early February, which found that 71 per cent of vehicles passing under the gantries did not have e-tags fitted.
John Clarke, the spokesperson for Outa, says when extrapolating their findings to the average number of 2.4-million vehicles using these highways, they maintain that less than 700 000 vehicles are fitted with E-tags.
“At the time, Sanral ridiculed our claims by stating that almost one million people had purchased E-tags and they questioned Outa’s research.
“Needless to say, we now thank the minister for confirming Outa’s research as being credible and very accurate, which in effect exposes Sanral’s misleading information and behaviour.”
He adds that besides confirming Outa’s findings, the statement by the minister also explains why the Central Operations Centre at Midrand is being overwhelmed with so called “teething problems”.
“Since the large majority of vehicles passing under the gantries are not E-tagged, the Ops centre staff have to use video evidence and the eNatis database to identify non-registered vehicles and bill them.
“Because the data is unreliable and the manual process is so time consuming, it is prone to errors and adds to the billing fiasco.”
He says that Outa believes the moral courage of Gauteng citizens will grow stronger, now they know the truth and that by not registering for E-tags, the system will remain under pressure, eventually forcing the authorities to come to their senses.
“Motorists should at the very least refuse to pay until Sanral has definitively proved that it was their vehicle that used the highway,” says Clarke.
Wayne Duvenage, chairperson of Outa, adds that there is a huge difference between errors and deliberate deception.
“I have written to minister Peters to discuss this serious matter with Sanral CEO, Nazir Alli, and to seek an explanation of how he could possibly claim that the revenue targets of R200-million have been exceeded by a further ‘R100-m per month’.
“The minister now knows that Outa’s research is very accurate and can be relied upon and we believe she needs to hold Alli and the Sanral board accountable for taking such massive risks with public money.
“Beyond party political interests, minister Peters must be conscious of what the judgement of history will say.”
