FAQs as at 27 March 2020

Routine road maintenance and toll operations are approved as essential services

1. Are toll operations an essential service?
   • Approval was obtained from Government late on the 26th March for SANRAL activities to proceed as essential services. This approval and instruction has been issued to SANRAL employees and service providers to enable services to be executed during the lockdown period.
   • Routine road maintenance and toll operations are approved as essential services by Government. SANRAL and its service providers are thus fulfilling an important mandate to ensure road safety and seamless mobility on national roads during the lockdown period.
     

2. If toll operations are on the essential services exemption list as Gazetted, are toll collectors still expected to arrive for work?
   • We will maintain a skeleton staff for purposes of safe road operations, clearing of accidents, all heavy vehicles are directed through the vehicle check points at the Huguenot tunnel as well as road traffic enforcement.
     

3. What happens if toll staff don’t arrive for work? Will the toll booms be opened or closed?
   • All staff have an important mandate to fulfil and as such been informed to report for duty.
     

4. Will vehicles carrying food, medicine and other essential goods be able to move through the booms and onward to their destinations if toll operators do not report for duty?
   • SANRAL and its concessionaires will make every effort to ensure seamless mobility on national roads during the lock down.
     

5. Has government given SANRAL any guidance on what you should be doing during this time?
   • National Government has approved routine road maintenance and toll operations as an essential service. SANRAL and its service providers are thus fulfilling an important mandate to ensure road safety and seamless mobility on national roads during the lockdown period.
     

6. Will SANRAL still be charging people to use the highways in Gauteng through your e-tolls system?
   • SANRAL will be charging the gazetted toll fees on the Gauteng Freeway Open road toll network.
     

7. Will the decline in traffic have a financial impact on SANRAL? If so, have you calculated what that impact will be?

• Yes, it will. We are tracking the traffic on a daily basis, but will only calculate the impact after we close off the month.

8. Will all toll plazas be operational?

• Yes, all toll plazas nationally will be operational.

9. If toll plazas are operating how many toll collectors will be working and what will their responsibility be?
   • We will maintain a skeleton staff for the collection of toll for those who cannot avoid using cash as a transaction method. However, we encourage road users to use dedicated credit card or e-tag lanes where possible.

10. What measures will be put in place to protect the skeleton staff from infection?

• Our greatest priority is the well-being, health and safety of our road users and employees. Stringent measures have been put in place at all SANRAL toll plazas to curb the spread of Covid-19.
• SANRAL, through its toll concession companies, has embarked on a comprehensive education program amongst its employees with particular emphasis on Toll Collection Department staff. We are educating our staff on the spread of COVID-19 and the measures individuals can take to protect themselves and contain the virus.
• Precautionary measures include increasing communication and awareness efforts to employees, heightening health, sanitation and cleaning activities and restricting access to only core staff at our plazas.
• Employees have been encouraged to minimise contact with others. Continuous updates from the WHO and Department of Health will be communicated to all employees via our internal communication channels. Vulnerable workers have been identified and assisted accordingly to minimise the risk of infection.
• Additional sanitisers (including personal sanitisers) have been made available throughout the plazas to all staff and are used regularly when handling money, cards and interfacing with the public.

11. What measures have been put in place to mitigate COVID-19 and keep staff and road users safe?
    

• See 9. above
• Toll collectors will continue to accept cash, although SANRAL recommends the use of dedicated e-tags and credit card lanes to limit road users’ direct contact with its toll operators.

12. Will the South Africa military be deployed at the toll plazas, and other non-toll networks as well?
    

• SANRAL is not a law enforcement agency but will support the South African government in its endeavour to curb the spread of COVID-19. Please refer your query to the South African National Defence Force.
  

13. What restrictions will be in place that would prevent me from driving along the freeway to any destination I choose?

• All South Africans who are not deemed to be essential employees by the National Government are expected to be in lockdown and not travelling on the roads for the next 21 days until after 16 April.
  

14. Can you provide a list of toll booths that are owned and managed by SANRAL and those that are owned and managed by the concessionaires?
    

• Please refer to the toll adjustment booklet, it demarks eactly which routes are managed by SANRAL and those by its concessionaires.

15. Do I need a valid reason to drive past toll booth during lockdown – will that not appear as breaking the rules during a lockdown?
    

• All South Africans who are not deemed to be essential employees as declared by the National Government are expected to be in lockdown and not travelling on the roads for the next 21 days until 16 April.
• Please refer to the regulations issued by government regarding permits required to travel as well as restrictions on travel times.

16. How do I get hold of SANRAL if I have any queries around tolls during this lockdown period?
    

• Please visit our social media forums on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates and valuable information relate to COVID-19 as well as to post any queries.
• Members of the media should contact us via Pressoffice@nra.co.za

17. If Routine maintenance of roads is deemed an essential service, what precautions is SANRAL taking at its maintenance sites to reduce the risk of infection for workers?
    

• Routine road maintenance are approved as essential services by Government. SANRAL and its service providers are thus fulfilling an important mandate to ensure road safety and seamless mobility on national roads during the lockdown period.
• SANRAL continues to advise all our contractors to use the protective measures as instructed including maintaining a skeleton staff.  Contractors have been instructed themselves to come up with action plans. And this will be monitored as time progresses.