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E-tags make economic sense - Treasury

Johannesburg - Motorists do not have to buy e-tags to use Gauteng's toll roads, but it makes economic sense to do so, Treasury director general Lungisa Fuzile said on Friday.

"Whilst it makes economic sense from the individual road user's point of view to buy the e-tags to save, you don't have to have a tag to use the road," he said at the Reuters economist of the year business briefing in Johannesburg.

"Therefore Sanral (the SA National Roads Agency Limited) does not need you to have a tag in order to track the person down and deliver the bill relating to the use of the road," he said.

Motorists will have to pay to use major highways around Johannesburg and Tshwane from April 30, with payment through an automated number-plate reading system.

A recent march by the Congress of SA Trade Unions highlighted opposition to the tolls, with many motorists threatening not to pay.

Asked whether the Treasury had a contingency plan, Fuzile said road users were getting a good deal.

The roads were good and, at last check, around 200 000 people had registered for an e-tag.

"We are convinced that this is actually a good deal, and therefore it doesn't require a contingency. Plan A is Plan B and vice versa."

It was cheaper for both Sanral and the road user to get a tag.

Payment options for the tolls include having fees deducted from credit card accounts, with top-up thresholds set by account holders, or by pre-paying and topping up e-tags.

Visitors could register for day passes and unregistered users would be invoiced with a due date for payment.

 
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