- The DA said Sanral was in arrears with its electricity bill in Johannesburg, but the state-owned entity denied it.
- DA mayoral candidate Mpho Phalatse said she would cut off Sanral's electricity, if elected.
- The DA also wants to cut power to all national and provincial government entities not paying its bills.
If it were to govern Johannesburg, the DA would cut the electricity of the South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) due to non-payment, effectively rendering the much-maligned e-tolls useless.
Sanral, however, said its accounts were not in arrears.
On Tuesday, the DA's Gauteng leader, Solly Msimanga, the mayoral candidate for Johannesburg, Mpho Phalatse, and Gauteng chairperson Fred Nel voiced the party's objection to e-tolls at a press briefing.
Msimanga said e-tolls is an "unjust" system and described it as a "noose hanging on the necks of the law-abiding citizens of our beautiful province".
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Phalatse said the DA had learnt that Sanral was currently in arrears with City Power.
"Where gantries exist in City Power supply areas, City Power is currently supplying them with electricity. In a normal circumstance, Sanral should be paying the bills for this service," she said.
"But with Sanral in arrears, it means the City of Johannesburg is not receiving revenue for this service, and the cost to keep these gantries on is being footed by the residents of Johannesburg.
"Should the DA be elected to govern Johannesburg, we will switch off the electricity supply to e-toll gantries in City Power supply areas, such as on William Nicol Drive and in Rivonia, effectively collapsing the e-toll system in strategic nodes, based on non-payment by Sanral.
"We cannot allow the residents of Johannesburg to suffer any further from a shortage of services, because national government is failing to take responsibility and pay their bills."
Msimanga said he couldn't say by how much Sanral were in arrears, but it was millions.
Sanral responded to News24 via its PR firm: "Sanral wishes to state that the allegations made by the DA are untrue.
"Sanral currently holds multiple accounts with the City Power, billed through the City of Johannesburg. Occasionally, discrepancies are encountered within our multiple accounts. This means that, at times, certain infrastructure accounts will be in credit or debit due to the municipal verification processes and billing cycles. Such discrepancies are continuously monitored, managed and resolved as the need arises.
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"Sanral is in constant communication with City Power and has never failed to honour its responsibilities towards the entity. As a responsible state-owned entity, Sanral subscribes to the Public Finance Management Act (PFMA), and all outstanding accounts are therefore managed within the framework of the Act.
"Sanral has ensured and will continue to ensure that the funds allocated to it by government and received from those road users that are paying their e-toll accounts, are spent in a responsible manner, as prescribed by the PFMA."
But it is not only Sanral in the mayoral hopeful's crosshairs, but all national and provincial government institutions, who are not footing its bills.
"A DA-led Johannesburg will clamp down on the culture of non-payment across all services, for any provincial or national departments, entities and companies that are in debt to the City. Revenue is the lifeblood of basic service delivery, and we will not allow the residents to suffer anymore," Phalatse said.
