The public should not be misled by false claims that government has decided to scrap outstanding e-
toll debt.

Statements that debt has been written off are misleading and may lead to consequences for people
who still owe money for travelling on the Gauteng e-toll network.

This means that all monies owed to the state must be paid and no debt has been written off. E-toll
debt was reported as impaired, but an impairment is not a write-off.

An impairment assessment is required in terms of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS).
It is an accounting methodology to consider the time value of money (how long will it take to collect)
and the probability of collection.

SANRAL’s CFO Inge Mulder states: “The most crucial thing to understand is that no debtor has
received a credit note reducing their debt.

“It is a judgement call, and if you look at the detail you would note that we have basically provided for
accounts with a value of less than R500, where the chances of us pursuing that debt in the short-term
is small – so the time-value of money calculation then reduces the debt to the net present value.
“We have also impaired debt of entities in business rescue.

“There is an argument which says the opportunity to lay a civil claim prescribes after three years,
which means from 3 December 2016 some transactions that have not yet been summonsed could be
prescribed. So, we have provided for this too.

“However, the fact remains that criminal offences never prescribe and failing to pay toll is a criminal
office which means that we will never write off the debt.

“The majority of this impairment is based on our judgement that due to the standard tariff, which was
lowered with the new dispensation to 30c/km, may be considered when settling historic debt which is
at R1.80/km. We have never recognised the alternate tariff as revenue because a discount could be
provided, so our revenue has always been standard tariff. The debtor still owes R1.80/km.”