‘No refunds’ says Lesufi – Motorists must pay outstanding e-tolls debts

Motorists will not receive any refund and will still need to settle their outstanding debts even after the e-tolls system in Gauteng is scrapped.

Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga, Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi and the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) briefed the media on Wednesday regarding the fate of e-tolls.

Road users will no longer be charged for use of the controversial Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) electronic tolling gantries from midnight on Thursday.

However, the gantries and its cameras will remain operational and be repurposed to assist road safety and crime-fighting initiatives.

Motorists e-tolls debt

Although e-tolls will no longer exist, Chikunga says motorists will have to pay their historic debts as required by law.

The minister indicated that a final decision on consequences for those who haven’t paid has not been reached.

“In terms of the law, motorists are still obligated to pay, [but] how this will be enforced is still to be discussed. We will be attending to that as time goes on.

“Those who have used up until tomorrow will have to pay. If there are challenges, that’s a matter we will be looking into,” she said during a media briefing held in Centurion on Wednesday.

Since inception in December 2013, the gantries in the province have been recording e-tolls bills.

ALSO READ: E-tolls scrapped, but gantries will remain operational – Chikunga

Some motorists boycotted the tolling system, racking up bills running into thousands of Rands over the years.

Adding his voice on the matter, Lesufi said the outstanding debt issue was complicated.

“The basis of the disputes on e-tolls was a lack of consultation. Therefore, the payment or enforcement of debt, we must subject it to consultation, so people can’t say we are taking a decision without consulting,” he said.

The premier denied ever claiming that motorists would get refunds, saying that he was “misrepresented”.

“Someone wrote a story that I said we need to refund those that have paid. I never said we must pay people, I said it’s among the outstanding obstacles in resolving this matter of e-tolls,” Lesufi continued.

Earlier, the premier stated that R4 billion will be set aside by the Gauteng government for road maintenance.

Gauteng government payment plan

The Gauteng government has committed to pay R12.9 billion towards settling Sanral’s GFIP loan debt, which accounts for 30% of the total bill.

The National Treasury will foot the remaining 70% of R43 billion.

Alternative funding solutions for the GFIP debt repayment and deal with the backlog of maintenance and rehabilitation costs were agreed upon in a memorandum of understanding signed by Chikunga, Lesufi and Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana in March.

Lesufi previously revealed that the Gauteng government will have to borrow funds to pay Sanral.

READ MORE: E-toll debt collection from motorists still on the agenda

The premier confirmed on Wednesday that the provincial government has approached financial institutions willing to loan them money.

“They are favourable, but because these are public funds we need to request them to make presentations to us and indeed there is an appetite from these financial institutions to settle this on our behalf so that we can then enter into repayment. It’s at an advance stage so as soon as we reach the final agreement with a financial institution we will notify [the public],” Lesufi said.

He stressed that the province’s financial arrangements would not affect service delivery, saying it would have been “catastrophic” if the government had signed off scrapping e-tolls without considering the payment structure and other factors.

“Obviously, if you have to take out R12 billion from your budget, one way or another you would have to prioritise other things. It’s inevitable and our focus now is on things that are not affecting service delivery,” Lesufi added.