E-tolls could become speed cameras — and Sanral considers selling user data
The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has issued a tender seeking contractors to take over its failed e-toll system and potentially implement several value-added systems.
Among the services listed in the tender document that prospective bidders could implement is an average speed over distance system, and monetising data already collected via e-tolling.
Sanral said its e-toll gantries could already do limited average speed enforcement.
The roads agency said it has been collecting average speed data since 3 April 2020 and recorded nearly 12.6 million infringements.
On a single day in July, it noted 16,225 speeding infringements, Sanral stated.
According to the tender, bidders implementing this need to connect to the National Traffic Information System (Natis) and other government departments.
However, Sanral assured there would be no link between toll accounts and the speed infringement system.
“The [average speed over distance] system will interface with the Sanral accounting system to raise any potential invoices for payment of the part of the fine that is agreed to be due to Sanral.”
An external service provider that Sanral will procure and appoint during the contract would issue official and legal notices.
BusinessTech reported that Sanral’s tender hopes to get procurement proposals for the operation and maintenance of the Gauteng open road tolling system.
Bidders would have to take over all operations of the existing e-toll system, including the maintenance and support of hardware.
The tender also features a supply and support contract for a new e-toll back office system.
This includes account hosting, transaction processing and violations processing.
Sanral specifies that it may at any stage halt certain operations, including collecting e-tolls.
It also reserves the right to carve out and contract directly for any of the value-added services in the tender.
In addition to the average speed infringement system, Sanral identified the following value-added services:
- Using the Sanral mobile app to manage accounts
- Assisting the South African Police Service and other enforcement agencies with crime intelligence
- Data monetisation, using data already collected via e-tolling
- Account-based ticketing
- Vehicle and driver’s licence issuing or renewal
- Weigh-in motion enforcement on Gauteng freeways and ultimately nationwide
- Any other identified value-added service
The tender is for six years, with an option to extend by 24 months, and it closes on 7 September 2022.
Fikile Mbalula, Minister of Transport
Transport minister Fikile Mbalula said on 30 June that government would this time “for sure” announce a solution to e-tolls in October during finance minister Enoch Godongwana’s medium-term budget policy statement.
Mbalula acknowledged that he had made “a lot of promises and concessions” regarding e-tolls when he was “almost certain” a decision would be delivered.
His latest promise was in mid-May when he said an announcement on e-tolls was “imminent”.
Before that, he had promised an announcement by Godongwana’s budget speech in February; before that, he had pledged a final statement by the end of May 2021.
Energy minister Gwede Mantashe previously warned that fuel prices would increase if e-tolls were scrapped, as government would have to collect the failed scheme’s shortfall via an additional fuel tax.
“There was a decision that was taken by Cabinet on the e-tolls which was taking us in the direction of the fuel levy,” Mbalula confirmed during an end-June media briefing.
“The fuel levy story has become very messy over time and is no longer an option we can consider,” he said.
South Africa has faced record fuel price hikes in recent months.
To lessen the impact — and after calls from civil society and opposition parties to step in — government temporarily reduced the fuel levy by R1.50.
Although fuel prices came down on Wednesday even after the temporary fuel levy reprieve ended, prices remain substantially higher than at the start of the year.
This is mainly due to rising brent crude prices and a weaker rand.
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