The Sanral road agency, which manages the controversial and failing e-toll system, has threatened to begin prosecution against non-payers of e-toll accounts seriously.
In a letter to registered e-toll users, Sanral replied to media reports claiming that they had recently written off R3.6 billion e-toll debt. “We want to fix the record: non-payment of e-toll remains a criminal offense, and Sanral must collect outstanding fees, and offenders can be prosecuted or held liable for civil actions.”
Sanral further said that he had begun civil actions but threatened to initiate criminal proceedings.
There is a difference between the write-off of debt and to providing for the cancellation of bad debt, said Sanral.
Observers, however, believe that Sanral’s threat is clutching at straws. If Sanral wanted to begin civil actions, they would have done it for a long time ago. However, it is an expensive process, and Sanral cannot afford it.
The threat of criminal action against non-payers is also not taken seriously. The courts are already overcrowded with serious crimes, and prosecutors are expected to withdraw insignificant matters like this, in order not to waste the court’s time with these issues because Sanral cannot fulfill its duties.
Read the original article in Afrikaans on Die Vryburger
South Africa Today – South Africa News
