An e-mail claiming that money can be taken directly from e-toll users’ bank accounts is a hoax.
The South African National Roads Agency Limited advised Gauteng motorists to ignore the hoax e-mail that started out as an April Fool’s joke.
The road agency’s spokesperson Vusi Mona said, “An April Fool’s joke has gained momentum and many people are now concerned that Sanral is illegally taking money from road users.
“We want to assure the public that Sanral acts strictly within the confines of the e-tolling legislation.”
The hoax message was allegedly first published on the Business Tech website on 1 April as part of an April Fool’s joke.
The joke claimed the South African Revenue Service had been allocated the power to collect money directly from the bank accounts of road users who have not paid their e-toll accounts.
According to Mona, despite a link to another page at the bottom of the online report, clarifying that the report was an April Fools’ joke, some motorists had taken it seriously and had begun circulating the report via email.
Mona said it was regrettable that the website contributed to misinforming the public under the guise of a joke.
“A similar situation occurred in January when false reports were spread about alleged roadblocks in Gauteng where road users were forced to purchase e-tags,” Mona added.
“There is still a degree of misunderstanding about the e-tolling system, and unfortunately such hoax reports and e-mails only add to the confusion among road users.”
