The systems were designed to fund the R20 billion highway upgrade program (GFIP or Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project) which was implemented in 2007 and largely completed by April 2011.

[10][11][12] The South African government then announced on 28 March 2024[13] that e-tolls in Gauteng would officially be scrapped and gantries would be disconnected and dismantled by the end of the 11th of April 2024, at midnight.

Electronic Toll Collection (Pty) Ltd (ETC), a subsidiary of Kapsch TrafficCom AG,[16] is the contracted company that designed, built and is still operating the system,[17] and in turn oversees the Transaction Clearing House (TCH) which oversees customer accounts, and the Violation Processing Centre (VPC) which would follow procedures against payment defaulters.

During the review of the system and the subsequent consultation process, Sanral delayed in sending final demands to those who had not settled their accounts.

[27] A public coalition known as 'Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance', later renamed Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), launched initiatives to frustrate e-tolling's implementation, and a trade union,[28] law firm[29] and church[30] were among the dissenting voices.

[18] OUTA believed the system to be unlawful and approached the high court in 2012, which ruled that the GFIP was lawfully instituted,[31] but denied SANRAL a punitive costs order.

In the first six months the overdue toll fees of unregistered road users accrued to R1 billion,[24] and the Gauteng government acknowledged the dissatisfaction of motorists.

[40] In November 2015, a news report[41] indicated that the camera systems on the gantries did not have calibration certificates required by the National Regulator for Compulsory Specifications.

[10][11][12] The South African government then announced on 28 March 2024[13] that e-tolls in Gauteng would officially be scrapped and gantries would be disconnected and dismantled by the end of the 11th of April 2024, at midnight.

[38][44] Ramaphosa indicated that the e-toll system would be subsidized to an amount of R700 million per annum from the state's eventuality fund,[44] to service a backlog which accrued to R197 billion by 2015.

By October 2018 the outstanding debt of Gauteng motorists approached R11 billion, and Sanral issued a final warning that they would start serving court summonses in bulk.

The revolt against e-tolls prompted Moody's to downgrade its long-term local and foreign currency global scale ratings, causing this debt to balloon to R45 billion.

The public-private sector partnerships were able to raise upfront capital independently for important infrastructure projects, without drawing on fuel levies or taxes.

Construction of additional roads is said to be urgent to ensure province-wide mobility but GFIP (Phase 2), promising to add 158 km of new routes, is languishing while funds are not forthcoming.