Sanral to brief Parliament on e-tolls

“We look forward to the opportunity to explain what went wrong with e-tolling, but also what went right,” Vusi Mona, the road agency’s spokesperson said.

“It is a good opportunity to communicate where e-tolling is at right now and how Sanral plans to improve the system.”

Mona conceded that problems with the system remained but the agency was working to overcome them, adding that challenges were expected considering the high volume of users.

He said there was a very small percentage of complaints, explaining that of the 2.6 million vehicles on tolled highways monthly, only 0.3 percent have raised complaints.

Meanwhile, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) scoffed at the agency’s claims that the number of complaints by users was merely 0.3 percent.

According to John Clarke, the alliance’s spokesperson, there were hundreds of thousands of road users who were simply not complying and had not bothered to complain.

Clarke has also urged members of Parliament to insist that the roads agency explains fully why it has yet to establish how many user accounts were compromised in a potentially serious online security breach.

According to Clarke, the roads agency should explain why it has neither notified compromised account holders of the crime, nor notified its user base as a whole that their personal data may be in the hands of cyber criminals.

The security breach was made public knowledge following media reports in January that a hacker had gained access to the agency’s system and the accounts therein, which included personal information.

Shortly after the reports emerged, Mona acknowledged and condemned the cyber attacks on the agency’s system.