The Gauteng government wants to use the e-toll gantries to fight crime in the province, while the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) office will be used as a license renewal facility.
Gantry cameras will be a tool to fight crime in Gauteng by detecting vehicles involved in criminals, the prime minister’s office has said.
The addition of gantries as a tool in the fight against crime will be part of a project announced by Prime Minister Panyaza Lesufi during his provincial speech in February.
Also read: Sopa 2023: Electronic tolls canceled permanently
The project will also use sophisticated facial and car recognition tools such as CCTV, drones and even panic buttons installed in the community.
The discussion continues
Lesufi’s spokesperson, Vuyo Mhaga, told Rekord that the province has plans for e-toll infrastructure to complement the work being done by the police.
He said discussions that would see the province sign a service delivery agreement with Sanral were ongoing.
The agreement will detail the number of Sanral facilities to be used as license renewal offices after a needs analysis is carried out.
READ ALSO: Drones, anti-tamper number plates, electronic buttons: Lesufi’s high-tech plan
Mhaga said the discussions would be concluded soon; However, he could not give an exact date for the new role of gantries.
“You could say Gauteng traffic has access to them as we speak.”
There is no agreement on the use of E-toll gantries
Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona told Rekord that Sanral has been in discussions with the Gauteng provincial Department of Transport and National Treasury,
Mona said Sanral could not confirm the Gauteng government’s plans because there was no agreement yet.
“No agreement has been signed. We cannot confirm that the content of the final service delivery agreement will allow this.
Also read: Gauteng Sopa: Lesufi touches on crime but no one talks about corruption
According to Gauteng MEC for Finance Jacob Mamabolo, the province implemented the decision to end the e-toll system.
However, he reiterated that the government will absorb the e-toll debt, which will be shared between the provincial government and the Gauteng province.
This happens even though the motorist still receives a billing account.
“The Minister of Finance stated that there is still work to be done to fully implement the decision.
“Once this engagement is complete, a memorandum of agreement will be finalized and appropriate feedback and updates will be provided.”
Also read: Sopa 2023: Lesufi admits Gauteng is home to ‘heartless and ruthless’ criminals
Gauteng will increase its crime-fighting budget over the next three years.
Other crime fighting tools include 400 new police cars and 6 000 recruits to monitor and police from 1 May.
This article is republished from Rekord with permission.