This follows allegations by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) that the roads agency has been inflating their e-tag sales figures to more than double what they actually are.
Outa conducted physical e-tag counts on almost 8000 cars from 5 December to 13 December (excluding weekends) and found that few motorists are complying with the e-toll system.
Of the 5186 cars counted at freeway on and off-ramps, 788 cars had an e-tag- equating to 15 percent of cars being tagged.
Of the 2 636 non-freeway users, counted at malls in and around Gauteng located nearby tolled freeways, 234 –or nine percent– of cars had been tagged.
“The results were significantly lower than the impression created by Sanral. At a mere 15 percent of freeway users driving with e-tags, we extrapolate this to be around 350 000 to 400 000 e-tags in use on the Gauteng Freeways, i.e. less than half the 800 000 number indicated by Sanral,” Outa said in a statement.
Outa deduced these figures based on the total number of vehicles using the Gauteng freeways per month (estimated by Sanral at around 2,3 million).
“We always knew that Sanral’s e-tag sales were inflated over the past two years, but we never expected the actual e-tag numbers in use to be this low.” said Wayne Duvenage, Chairman of Outa.
However, Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona said, “The e-tag sales figures we have released are accurate. As a state owned entity, everything we do is subject to audit processes by the Auditor General. Therefore, we have no reason to ‘fabricate’ figures.”
Mona said the actual number of e-tags sold is determined by its customer service centres and bulk distribution, adding that 920 310 e-tags have been taken up thus far.
According to Outa, Sanral has been unwilling to show the actual source of its information to the public and interested parties.
The alliance said it conducted the e-tag counts based on the assumption that most people who had bought e-tags would have fitted them to their front windscreens.
Outa’s research found that intersections located closer to industrial areas (Modderfontein, Marlboro Drive, Malibongwe and New Road) produced a slightly higher e-tag penetration compared to residential areas.
The alliance said this indicated that businesses are more likely to comply with the system than the public are.
Duvenage said that the even if Sanral receives some payment from non-tagged users at a higher tariff, the agency would be lucky to receive 40 percent of its e-toll revenues.
