The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) will, with immediate effect, suspend the process of pursuing e-toll debt.
The Sanral board passed the urgent resolution on Tuesday, which resolved that given the initiative led by President Cyril Ramaphosa to address the e-tolls payment impasse, the entity will suspend the pursuit of e-toll debt.
This includes historic debt and summonses applied for from 2015. No new summonses will be applied for.
The decision will, however, be constantly monitored by the board and reviewed according to prevailing circumstances, the State-owned company said in a statement on Wednesday.
Civil rights organization AfriForum has since, in a separate statement, welcomed Sanral’s decision, citing it as “a victory for civil society as a whole”.
According to AfriForum CEO Kallie Kriel, “Sanral’s decision shows that the civil society can effectively use its power to battle exploitation by a corrupt authority”.
He further expressed hope that the government and Sanral will, in future, reflect on more cost-effective manners to finance roads.