We are not using e-tolls to spy on you: Sanral

Sanral is not using e-tolls to spy on South Africans, according to company spokesman, Vusi Mona.

Mona made the statement in response to an article by journalism professor Jane Duncan, who said the government was tracking motorists’ movements using the e-toll system.

“Prof Duncan raises something which is just a possibility which modern technology has brought with it. [E-tolls are] not used to establish a person’s personal, social and political activities or habits, political involvement and associations,” said Mona.

Duncan had suggested that by Sanral taking photographs of registration plates as the vehicle drives under the gantries and using the associated information supplied by e-tags, motorists’ movement patterns could be tracked.

“We have neither the time nor the desire to do anything like that, nor has it crossed our minds,” said Mona.

“The e-tag is also only an identifier, and does not track a vehicle, but only reads the tag when passing underneath a gantry. Cellphone companies can determine a person’s movements by means of their technology and banks have access to a person’s banking details and when and where they have made purchases.”

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