Calls for Gauteng road users to register for e-tolls

(Image: GCIS)

"I am appealing to South Africans, in particular in Gauteng, who have vehicles running on the road to register. It's better for you to get your tag in time before the rush, now that it is signed into law," Peters said on Tuesday.

She was speaking at the launch of Transport Month, which is being held under the theme, 'Celebrating 20 years of delivering efficient, reliable and safe transport services."

Last week, President Jacob Zuma signed into law the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill - which paves the way for the implementation of the e-tolling system.

A statement released by the Presidency said the Act will facilitate the upgrading and development of the transport infrastructure and public transport in the Republic.

"In effect, the Act will provide more effectively for the collection of toll; to amend the Cross-Border Road Transport Act, 1998 (Act No. 4 of 1998), to empower the Cross-Border Road Transport Agency to collect toll on behalf of SANRAL..." said the Presidency.

Peters said she was now attending to the remaining procedural matters related to the implementation process.

These include the publication of final regulations, notices and toll tariffs, and the determination of the date of commencement.

Peters said she has signed the regulations, which were now submitted to President Zuma.

"When he is ready - as you know he is out of the country - he will sign them and we shall then make the necessary announcement date. However, I believe we need less than a month ... (to) start implementing.

SANRAL says only a fraction of road users of the GFIP will pay the maximum monthly cost of using the road, which is capped at R450 for those who have registered for e-tags.

The agency says e-tolling will not cost motorists a fortune, as the vast majority of motorists (82.83%) will only pay R100 a month.

Sanral says it has used actual data from its toll collection system to calculate these figures, adding that the initial calculations were done over a two-month period.