Fiscal SpaceproposedMedium TermTransport

SANRAL Road Funding Model Reform Post E-Tolls

Theme: infrastructure_finance

First raisedNov 2021Last discussedSept 2024Dormant — not discussed in 12+ months

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Assessment

Growth Impact3/5

Feasibility3/5

Responsible: SANRAL / Department of Transport / National Treasury

Feasibility Assessment

Medium. Fiscal necessity is driving urgency. Any user-pay mechanism faces the e-toll precedent; a fuel levy increase (R0.20/litre) is politically the path of least resistance.

Description

South Africa's e-toll system on Gauteng freeways was officially discontinued on 12 April 2024, after more than a decade of near-total public non-compliance. Gantries were physically disconnected; the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) debt of approximately R20 billion is being settled 70% by National Treasury and 30% by the Gauteng Provincial Government. SANRAL's traditional toll plazas continue to operate nationwide, with tariffs increased by 4.84% effective 1 March 2025. The e-toll episode exposed the fundamental challenge of road funding in South Africa: the fuel levy, historically the primary source of road maintenance revenue, is declining in real terms as vehicles become more fuel-efficient, and faces accelerating long-term erosion as EVs (which pay no fuel levy) gain market share. The Department of Transport is developing a Road Funding Policy that must address: the fiscal gap left by the fuel levy decline, the replacement revenue model for EVs and electric trucks, the equitable contribution of heavy freight vehicles that cause disproportionate road damage, and the feasibility of distance-based charging (a modern tolling concept) without repeating the political failure of e-tolls. The R1 trillion infrastructure programme requires SANRAL to maintain and expand the national road network, but its revenue base is structurally challenged.

OECD

Referenced in OECD Economic Surveys: South Africa

OECD SA Survey (2020, 2022, 2025). Related reform area identified across OECD surveys.

With e-tolls scrapped and the fuel levy declining as EVs enter the fleet, South Africa faces a road funding gap that will widen every year — the Road Funding Policy review is not optional; it is urgent. — OUTA Road Funding Analysis, 2024