Transport operators with unpaid Gauteng e-toll debt are set to have their historical liabilities cleared, but fleets that paid their accounts will not be refunded.
Cabinet has approved the write-off of almost R29 billion in outstanding Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) debt, clearing the way for the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) to close out historical e-toll debt and resolve outstanding litigation matters.
The decision, confirmed by the National Department of Transport, also means road users who paid toll fees will not receive refunds because, it says, the system was lawful at the time.
“Cabinet noted the recommendations by SANRAL to write off debt owed by road users who did not pay, and that National Treasury would service this debt, and that the road users who paid toll fees would not be refunded because this was the law at the time,” Minister in the Presidency, Khumbudzo Ntshavheni, said on Friday.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy and Deputy Minister Mkhuleko Hlengwa said in a statement that the move would bring much-needed relief and “lessen the financial burden on road users who are currently hard-pressed by high fuel costs due to geopolitical matters that are currently unfolding”.
The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has welcomed Cabinet’s decision to write off the e-toll debt. “Government switched off the gantries in 2024 but left the debt question hanging over motorists for another two years,” said OUTA CEO Wayne Duvenage. “This latest decision finally acknowledges what had become obvious long ago. The debt was not recoverable, and prolonging the uncertainty served no useful purpose.”
The decision paves the way for outstanding litigation to be settled and brought to finality, he said. “For many motorists who received summonses and have been waiting years for certainty, this announcement will come as a welcome relief.”
