The plan to repurpose e-toll gantries for average-speed-over-distance (ASOD) enforcement and other crime-combat efforts has seemingly stalled.
In September 2024, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi told Eyewitness News that the provincial government had assumed control of the e-toll gantries and integrated them into its broader CCTV network.
“They are part of our portfolio of CCTV cameras. There is some technology that is there on speed and tracking lost cars, we have been given access to that,” he said.
“We have also been given access to their command centre, and we have permanent law enforcement agents that are in the command centre.”
This comes after the much-maligned e-toll system was scrapped in early 2024, and the expensive infrastructure used in it was left without purpose.
Following the shutdown, the government repeatedly stated that the infrastructure would not be left to rot.
However, in feedback to TopAuto in February 2025, the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) revealed that the e-toll gantries had not yet been used for ASOD enforcement.
Additionally, Sanral traffic engineer Siveshni Pillay noted that the gantry cameras were still recording vehicle data and that this data was being used for road safety purposes.
Pillay also said that further details on upcoming projects and initiatives for the gantries would be revealed in due course.
Five months after these statements, the provincial government and Sanral have shared no further details on what role the gantry cameras are currently playing.
Given the potential revenue that could be generated from effective ASOD fine enforcement, it is odd that the government seems to be dragging its feet on this matter.
Viability
Sanral has stated that cameras are already capable of limited ASOD enforcement, as for the system to work, the cameras only need to record the exact time a car passes beneath a gantry.
Using this data, whether the driver exceeded the speed limit can be calculated based on how quickly they are recorded at the next gantry.
This does require the system to be able to capture and transmit the data quickly.
When the e-toll gantries were originally built, this was not a requirement; instead, the cameras only needed to capture car number plates.
When the system was still active, it took about three days to process an e-toll transaction, which leads to the conclusion that the system will struggle to transmit and process data quickly.
Another consideration for the province is that it still needs to pay around R19 billion towards the outstanding cost and maintenance of the system, per an agreement with Sanral and the National Treasury for the shutdown of e-tolls.
How the provincial government will overcome these challenges remains to be seen.
Loading ...
