E-tolls refunds: More hot air or actual relief for those who paid?

The delight at the Gauteng government’s commitment to refund e-toll fees has been dwarfed by confusion and curiosity on how this will be done, since some businesses such as car rental services have already passed on these costs to clients.

Also baffling is why Gauteng premier Panyaza Lesufi has made the commitment and not the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral), which oversaw the e-tolls system, billed motorists, has their account details, and information on how much each motorist is owed.

The premier revealed this week that those who have been paying e-tolls since their inception in December 2013, will be refunded but did not provide details on how and when will this be done.

Desperate for refund

“I am now unemployed and I have paid over R10 000 in e-toll fees between December 2017 and August 2020, when I lost my job because of Covid-19. I am eager to be refunded this money as now I battle to make end meets,” Zanele Kubheka, who used to commute between Garsfontein and Roodepoort, said.

She, however, doubted the practicality of the refund commitment, saying even if it happened, it could take years to materialise. She also asked if the refunds would be paid with interest.

The single mother of three, a marketing consultant, said at first she refused to pay e-tolls, but with her bill having escalated to over R3000 and relentless threatening letters, she finally caved.

“So when I heard [Lesufi] has promised to refund me, I was obviously thrilled but this was short-lived, because it did not sound practical. Firstly, where will this money come from? The Gauteng provincial government still has to find about R14 billion to pay its portion of Sanral’s outstanding R47-billion debt,” Kubheka said.

Complex matter

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) said promised e-toll refunds require a comprehensive explanation from Sanral.

The civil rights organisation’s chief executive officer Wayne Duvenage said though they welcomed the decision to refund motorists, it was interesting to consider where this extra R7 billion would come from.

He said it was for Sanral, who collected these funds, to make this statement and provide clarity, not the premier.

ALSO READ: Gauteng e-tolls to be switched off early 2023 – Lesufi

“We believe that not much thought has been given to this issue, in that businesses [freight, car rental and other businesses] have passed these e-toll costs on to their customers over the past 9-years. Their customers will in turn be asking these companies to refund that money back to them,” Duvenage said.

He warned that this in turn will have negative consequences for these businesses, asking whether Lesufi had taken any consideration and consultation before making this commitment.

“It is going to be quite a complex process and interesting to see how this unfolds,” Duvenage said.

Gauteng should not be paying

Outa has also questioned why the Gauteng provincial government was being asked to settle any debt that National Treasury, Department of Transport and Sanral entered into in 2008 when, the e-toll scheme was approved.

Outa explained that the Gauteng freeway infrastructure upgrade took place on national roads managed by Sanral, reporting to the national Department of Transport, and it was the national Ministry of Finance which approved the government guarantees to back the bonds taken up by Sanral, of which only R21 billion pertained to the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP).

ALSO READ: Gauteng to contribute R12.9 billion towards the decommissioning of e-tolls

Duvenage said even if Gauteng has been convinced to contribute toward 30% of the bonds, it should only be to cover 30% of the R21 billion borrowed for the GFIP, that is R6.3 billion, and not the R43 billion Treasury says the GFIP debt is now. 

He said in addition, between 2011/12 and March 2022, National Treasury has bailed Sanral out to the tune of R22.4 billion, specifically for the GFIP debt, which was well above the capital portion of the project’s capital cost.

“The interest on the GFIP bonds debt amounts to no more than R17 billion since 2008. We want clarity on what exactly the province is expected to contribute 30% toward, and how the figure is calculated. On top of this, the Gauteng government should be asking why Sanral paid the excessive cost of R17.9 billion for the GFIP upgrade [before the e-toll gantries added another R3 billion infrastructure costs],” Duvenage said.

He said they estimated that the GFIP project should have cost no more than R9 billion, charging that Sanral’s inability to defy the construction industry corruption at the time allowed the costs to escalate to R17.9 billion by the time the project was completed in 2011.

“Gauteng should not be footing the bill for Sanral’s gross inefficiencies and incompetence,” he added.

Lesufi’s office could be reached for comment since the premier announced his planned refunds earlier this week.

Vusi Mona, Sanral General Manager for Communications and Marketing, did not have answers either, saying the issue of refunds has served as an item under discussion in the official task team working on the practical implementation of the decision to scrap e-tolls.

He said the team is made up of the Department of Transport, National Treasury, Gauteng Provincial Government and Sanral.

“The task team reports to the relevant political principals [Minister of Transport, Minister of Finance and Premier of Gauteng]. As part of the task team, Sanral has yet to receive an instruction from the joint committee of the political principals, firmly indicating the way forward,” Mona said.

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