The South African National Roads Agency (SOC) Limited  (SANRAL) and the Johannesburg Metro Police Department (JMPD) have become aware of an email campaign being run by certain organisations and individuals which aims to scare road users in Gauteng through misinformation.
 
Both SANRAL and the JMPD view such campaigns in a serious light and wish to assure members of the public that they have not and will not act outside of the law in relation to e-tolling in Gauteng.
 
“There is an email making the rounds which warns road users of illegal roadblocks on the e-roads which are purportedly conducted by SANRAL and the JMPD in order to force road users to buy e-tags. SANRAL would like to set the record straight on two points.
 
“There are no such roadblocks planned and no individual or organisation including, SANRAL, can force road users to obtain an e-tag. SANRAL advises road users who wish to qualify for the built-in discounts afforded to registered users to purchase an e-tag but the decision to do so remains a voluntary one,” says SANRAL head of communications Vusi Mona.
 
Spokesperson for the JMPD, Superintendent Wayne Minnaar says: “As JMPD we have issued no instruction to set up road blocks in order to check for e-tags and will not be. Members of the public should remain sceptical of emails which do not come from official entities and they should immediately report any officials who attempt to force them to buy an e-tag.”
 
Both organisations say any members of the public who are stopped on the road by someone claiming to be a traffic or SANRAL official and being told to buy an e-tag should call the SANRAL fraud hotline on 0800204558 or the JMPD’s anti-corruption hotline at 0800 203 712 immediately.