advertisement
Facebook
X
LinkedIn
WhatsApp
Reddit

Queues at SANRAL outlets as Joburg shops sell out of e-Toll tags

Investigating e-Tag availability this morning, htxt.africa learned that some local shops are sold out of the devices.

SANRAL, the roads agency that will be administering the new e-Toll system around Gauteng, originally had shopfronts in certain malls in the Johannesburg area, and at least one of those has been shuttered. In Benmore Gardens shopping centre, near Sandton, a shopfront sits abandoned, leaving road users with only nearby shops to obtain etags.

One of those outlets is grocery outlet Pick ‘n Pay. We spoke to staff and management at the Benmore Gardens branch, where they said that they have sold out of e-Tags. They were unwilling to divulge numbers, but confirmed that e-Tags have been sold out for the past two or three days. Management at the store confirmed that all stores in the northern suburbs of Johannesburg, including Sandton, Bryanston, Hyde Park, and Morningside, had no stock of the devices. Stores in other parts of Gauteng, including Pretoria, Midrand, and the East Rand, were still said to have stock of e-Tags. A Pick ‘n Pay staffer said that he travels from Pretoria to Sandton every day – a hugely congested route, as thousands converge on the country’s financial centre – and found that more people in the Sandton area were getting tags, than in other areas.

Meanwhile, SANRAL’s other outlets had queues of people waiting to register for e-Tags.

In the Sunninghill Village shopping centre a temporary SANRAL kiosk had about 20 people waiting, papers in hand, to get their tags. Some of those in line had opposing views. A few felt that it was necessary to pay for the roads, while others begrudgingly lined up to merely comply with the new law that requires payment for usage of Gauteng’s highways. While obtaining an etag is optional, payment of toll fees is not. e-Tag users will be eligible for lower e-Toll fees.

But the majority of those in line were against the implementation of the e-Toll system. At SANRAL’s Rivonia service centre, near the Rivonia Road onramp to the N1 – a tolled highway –  there was no parking for more customers. Many took to leaving their cars in the centre’s driveway as they waited inside to apply for e-Tags.

Nearby, SANRAL staff, including members of the rescue service that operates on the new highway, were hosting a pep talk for the day.

 

advertisement

About Author

advertisement

Related News

advertisement