E-toll service centres cost South African taxpayers R51 million per year

The South African government spent over R51 million on operating and maintaining e-toll service centres along Gauteng freeways during the 2024/25 financial year.

This is according to Minister of Transport Barbara Creecy, who was responding to a written question from RISE Mzansi Member of Parliament Makashule Gana.

These e-toll customer service centres were established as physical locations where motorists using the e-toll system could go to settle their accounts with the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL).

Despite the e-toll project being discontinued, SANRAL has kept these service centres open for motorists to settle their debts.

Creecy said that the cost of operating the 12 satellite service centres across Gauteng’s freeways amounted to R51.003 million in 2024/25.

She said that the most significant contributors to this sum are maintenance and resource costs.

Personnel salaries, on the other hand, cost the department R22.9 million for the period, including training and benefits.

The minister added that there are 64 personnel employed across the toll service centres along the Gauteng freeway network, which boils down to an average cost of R358,513 per employee.

“Each centre is staffed in accordance with its size and service demand, typically comprising a minimum of two to three customer service agents and one supervisor,” Creecy told Gana.

“Immediate oversight and operational coordination across all service centres are provided by two Area Managers, who are responsible for ensuring consistent service delivery, performance monitoring, and compliance with operational standards.”

Gana also asked the minister about the number of toll tags registered since 1 January 2025, which she said was 172,212 as of 30 September.

While the e-toll system is no longer in use, motorists can still use the tags as a more convenient way to pass through tolls.

The number of tags registered has steadily increased throughout the year, starting at 50,345 between January and March, 53,097 from April to June, and 68,770 from July to September.

E-toll shutdown

The e-toll system was shut down on 11 April 2024 following widespread public rejection through boycotts and weak enforcement.

Launched in 2013 after missing several deadlines, it was initially intended to help fund the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.

The initial e-toll tariff, as indicated by SANRAL in 2011 for regular vehicles, was R0.60 per kilometre.

However, to quell public outrage, SANRAL reduced the tariff three times to an eventual launch charge of R0.30 per km.

According to the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), compliance levels started at 30% on launch day and increased slightly to 40% in 2014.

“It was always going to fail in the long run, once the public realised its power and refused to give in to the existence of an abusive government scheme,” OUTA said.

When Cyril Ramaphosa was elected as president in 2019, he instructed the finance minister and the minister of transport to seek alternative funding models for the province’s highway upgrades.

It was only at the end of the 2023/24 financial year that the e-toll gantries were officially switched off.