Cape Town - a Table View resident who hasn’t driven her car in Gauteng for more than 20 years has been sent an e-toll bill by the South African National Roads Agency Limited.
Ireley Hoare of Sunningdale said she was shocked when the bill for R16.53 arrived in her mail on Wednesday.
Hoare said she often flew to Johannesburg, but had not driven a vehicle on Gauteng roads for more than 20 years.
“Still, I have been billed and my daughter was also sent an account, but neither of us has been to Johannesburg with motor vehicles,” she said.
“It’s a legitimate account. It has my cars’s registration number, my ID number, a barcode. But I’m certainly not going to pay it. I’m going to leave it. I am ignoring the account.”
“I’m not even going to bother making a call to fix this.”
Her daughter, who she refused to name, had also been sent an SMS notifying her of an outstanding e-toll fee, despite not having used Gauteng roads recently, Hoare said.
“There seems to be a huge mismanagement of the accounting procedure for toll fees,” she said.
Hoare said the thought that their number plates could have been duplicated by someone in Gauteng did not escape her.
The statement notes that if the account was settled before Wednesday, she would receive a discount of R9.92.
It shows that a vehicle with her car plate numbers was used on March 11, but Hoare said she was in Cape Town at the time.
“This is not only Sanral’s crisis, it’s the country’s crisis.”
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance spokesman John Clarke said on Thursday Sanral’s database was continuing to fail, even though it had been ordered to fix it.
“Many people have received incorrect billing,” he said. “I would like her to send us that bill, so that we take it to the public protector. This is part and parcel of a complete failure of their system.”
In February, Fin24 reported that Citrusdal couple Johnnie and Ina van Wyk had been billed R43.50 by Sanral for their tractor. The couple had reportedly not been in Gauteng for 40 years.
Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona was contacted but had not responded by the time of going to press.
Cape Times