The government has effectively spent over R20 billion on a speed camera system for Gauteng.
The province’s infamous e-toll system was finally shut down in April this year, but the gantries built for the task are not going anywhere as the provincial government will instead use them for “crime prevention” going forward.
In practice, this means that the infrastructure is being repurposed to act as speed cameras and stolen vehicle trackers, but the “new” system comes at a substantial cost.
Glorified speed cameras
According to a parliamentary Q&A from 2012, the capital sum put towards Gauteng’s e-tolls was just north of R20 billion, including road construction, toll infrastructure, CCTV cameras, toll systems, and investment in intelligent transport systems.
The completed network includes 43 overhead gantries which are placed at 10km intervals along the N1, N3, N12, and R21 highways.
In other words, the endpoint of the e-toll debacle is that R20 billion has been spent installing 43 cameras in Gauteng, meaning that each speed trap effectively cost the public R465 million to install.
Adding to the financial headache is the fact that the failed toll scheme left behind an estimated R43 billion in debt, for which Gauteng is partially on the hook.
The provincial government and the National Treasury have settled on an agreement where the latter will cover 70% of the debt (R30 billion), while the former is obligated to pay back the remaining 30% (R13 billion).
Now that its e-tolls are no longer billing every single car that passes under them, the government has approached financial institutions for a loan and is currently looking into a “revenue enhancement strategy” to pay back the sum.
One proposal is to invest in the Gautrain Phase 2 expansion, which will theoretically boost economic activity and generate revenue that can be channeled back towards the loan repayment.
E-tolls’ new purpose
Former Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga announced in February this year that the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral) e-toll grid would be re-used for “crime prevention,” though she did not elaborate on what this would involve.
However, Sanral had previously published a tender document in 2022 suggesting that the gantries could serve a new purpose as average-speed-over-distance checkpoints and surveillance points for tracking stolen vehicles.
This plan has since come into effect, as Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi recently told Eyewitness News that the local government had taken over Sanral’s e-toll CCTV network.
“We have taken over all of their CCTV cameras. 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, we have permanent law enforcement agents that are in the command centre.”
Lesufi also said that the authorities have been able to clear a backlog of cases since it was granted access to the information on the surveillance system.
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