This is how badly e-tolls have failed

JMK via Wikimedia Commons

In April 2012, South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) argued in court that they would achieve 93% compliance levels. This over and above the fact that they would generate average income levels of over R3bn per annum. This would equate to roughly over R260 million per month, of which they would use approximately two-thirds to settle the bonds and one-third (over R1bn) to pay the collection process managed by Kapsch TrafficCom.

Sanral’s revenue to date

The below graph gives a timeline of Sanral’s e-toll revenue levels.

“Our research shows that, around the world, these electronic toll payment schemes require compliance levels well upward of 80% in order to succeed,” says Wayne Duvenage, chairperson of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).

“At best, and only after a multi-million rand marketing campaign, which threatened motorists with criminal records, the scheme was able to achieve around 40% compliance levels at R120m per month by mid-2014. Today, that level has dropped to below 18% and around R60m per month.”

Road users at the end of September owed Sanral R6.2 billion in unpaid e-tolls.

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