Transport Dept officially withdraws e-toll declaration on some Gauteng roads
The withdrawal was gazetted on Thursday, with the decision set to be effective in two weeks.
An e-toll gantry on the highway in Gauteng. Image: Xanderleigh Dookey-Makhaza/Eyewitness News
JOHANNESBURG - The Transport Department has officially withdrawn the e-tolls declaration on some roads in Gauteng.
The withdrawal was gazetted on Thursday, with the decision set to be effective in two weeks.
[JUST IN] E-Tolls have been scrapped.
— EWN Reporter (@ewnreporter) March 28, 2024
From 11 April 2024 midnight there will no longer be e-tolls on Gauteng roads.
This is according to a recently published government gazette. TCG pic.twitter.com/jAHjZ11PDu
The e-toll system, which was met by public resistance, was launched in 2013 in Gauteng to improve the state of the provincial roads.
After 14 years of the controversial system, managed by the South African National Roads Agency (SANRAL), from 11 April the gantries in Gauteng will be switched off on the N1, N12, N3, N4 and the R21.
The switching off of the e-tolls comes 11 days later than the promised deadline by Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi.
During his State of the Province Address (SOPA) in February, Lesufi set a deadline for 31 March to switch off the e-toll system.
Since its inception, the project, which forced motorists travelling on certain highways in Johannesburg and Tshwane to pay, was widely rejected.
The Gauteng government is expected to pay off 30% of the R43 million owed to SANRAL for the project, with the rest of the bill set to be paid off by National Treasury.