Acknowledging the release of a report on the impact of e-tolls on the people of Gauteng, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters on Friday committed herself and the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) to studying the document’s “context, content and recommendations”.

The report, which was compiled by a panel of transport experts tasked last year by Gauteng Premier David Makhura and released on Thursday, described the current system as “unaffordable and inequitable”, adding that it placed a disproportionate financial burden on low- and middle-income households.

Makhura told a media briefing in Johannesburg on Thursday that it had advised that the current e-toll system be reviewed to address issues of affordability, equity, fairness, administrative “simplicity” and sustainability.

The panel’s report contained over 50 recommendations and looked at issues such as public transport, infrastructure, environmental sustainability and spatial integration of the province.

“The Minister and the Department of Transport (DoT) remain committed towards ensuring a reliable, effective, efficient and economical transport system that is responsive to the socioeconomic conditions of all South Africans,” the department said in a brief statement.

The formation of the panel last year had made public an apparent clash of positions on e-tolling between the Gauteng provincial government (GPG) and the DoT, the latter of which remained steadfast in support of the funding mechanism and was largely considered in this case to represent the stance of central government.

“[The e-tolls system is] not a perfect solution, but it is lawful and wasn’t undertaken without thought and consideration. The work done on the highways in Gauteng cannot be done ‘gratis’.

“[Government] did consider alternatives to the user-pays principle, such as the ring-fencing of the fuel levy, but decided against it for several reasons,” Peters told the e-toll review panel in November.

Makhura, however, assured journalists on Thursday that both the GPG and central government structures were working together to determine the best way forward.