“Don't think like an African – pay up for e-tolls.” These were the words of President Jacob Zuma speaking at the ANC's Manifesto Forum at Wits University on Monday night when he was questioned about the wisdom and logic of the e-tolling system that will soon be implemented.

Now that e-tolls have become a reality, what are the implications if South African’s don’t pay up?

The South African National Roads Agency’s (SANRAL) CEO Nazir Alli, the “Tzar of Tar” said that Sanral will follow a two stage process in the event of a motorist who does not pay e-tolls fees on the Gauteng highways.

Speaking during an SABC interview on 17 October 2013, Alli said that their process will follow the following steps:

• Sanral will first follow a normal debt collecting process to try to recoup the money owed to them.

• After the debt collection process has been exhausted, the non-payers (violators) will be served with a summons and then the usual and normal course of justice will take place Sanral spokesman, Vusi Mona, previously provided a more detailed description of the e-toll payment and prosecution process:

• Although the toll system is a pre-paid system, a road user has a seven-day grace period, from a gantry pass, to pay their e-toll transactions;

• If the e-toll transaction is not paid within seven days, it is transferred to the Violations Processing Centre (the section of e-toll operations that deals with overdue toll amounts);

• Due to the user’s status as an Alternative User, discounts (e-tag, frequent user and time of day) are no longer applied and the Alternative Toll Tariff applies.

• Transactions are rolled up and an invoice is issued to the road user;

• A road user is then given an opportunity to settle his/her e-toll transactions and depending on the time within which the toll transactions are paid, post Grace Period Discounts might apply;

• During that time, a debt collection process takes place;

• Once it appears that the debt collection process is unsuccessful, a Final Demand will be issued and the issue handed over to the prosecuting authority;

• Prosecution will be done in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act and/or Aarto pending when and where it will be implemented.

Alli is confident that most motorists will pay for e-tolls as laid down by the law.

“We are all South Africans and generally law abiding citizens who obey the law,” said Alli, adding that people should not become selective on which laws must be obeyed and respected and which ones not.

“This is a law in the country and has always been since the Sanral act came into being way back in 1998,” said Alli.

“If you do travel on a toll road and you do not pay it is an offence not to pay because you are disobeying the law.”

The Supreme Court of Appeal dismissed an Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) appeal against the implementation of e-tolls by the SA National Roads Agency Limited on 9 October.

Outa announced that it would not continue its appeal against the ruling because of a lack of money.