The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA) has launched legal action against the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (SANRAL) and three government ministers, asking the Pretoria High Court to declare that SANRAL has abandoned 2 028 e-toll debt claims. The application was filed on 20 August 2025.

The 2 028 defendants, individuals and businesses, have been defended by OUTA for years under its e-toll Defence Umbrella after receiving summonses from SANRAL for unpaid e-tolls. SANRAL has indicated its intention to oppose the application, but no court date has yet been set.

OUTA is seeking a court declaration that SANRAL’s claims are abandoned, effectively ending the legal action against these defendants, and is also asking for an order for SANRAL to pay legal costs incurred in defending the cases.

“The applicants have sought certainty on the status of these matters for years, but SANRAL has avoided engagement, likely due to the financial implications,” said Advocate Stefanie Fick, OUTA’s Executive Director of the Accountability Division, in her founding affidavit.

Debts totalled R265 million

The e-toll system was introduced in December 2013 to fund the R20 billion Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP). OUTA has campaigned against the tolls since 2012. After years of resistance from motorists, the government decided in October 2022 to fund the GFIP debt directly through the National Treasury and Gauteng provincial government. E-toll declarations were officially withdrawn in April 2024, legally ending the system.

The 2 028 defendants’ debts totalled R265 million at the time summonses were issued, with claims ranging from R1 249 to over R13 million. OUTA argues that SANRAL abandoned these cases after its board suspended e-toll debt collection in March 2019. Despite numerous attempts to clarify the matter with SANRAL, no resolution has been reached.