The Democratic Alliance has called on roads agency Sanral and the department of transport to can the controversial e-tolling project in light of the fact that a similar project in Portugal failed.

In a statement, DA shadow transport minister Ian Ollis says it “can only be deduced from South Africa’s failure to learn from Portugal’s e-tolling woes, that neither Sanral nor the department of transport conducted thorough research into the feasibility of e-tolling. If they did, they negligently opted to ignore the Portuguese example”.

Ollis says that due to lower than anticipated revenue from e-tolls, Portugal’s e-tolling system has been “so unsustainable that the country’s road chief has warned that there will not be enough money for road maintenance”.

“Portugal’s e-tolling failure is clear evidence that e-tolling does not work,” Ollis says.

Portuguese roads agency Estradas de Portugal has failed to collect more than €30m (R386m) from e-toll transgressors and has found that, on average, 19% of toll-road users fail to pay for using the toll roads and that failure to pay, among other factors, has increased administration fees from €17m in 2011, to €42m in 2012.

“Contrary to Sanral’s repeated assertions, e-tolling does not create funding for road maintenance. All it will do is to create a massive administrative burden, undermine economic growth, hurt the poor, and ultimately result in job losses.”

Ollis says it is clear that “e-tolling does not work” and will fail in South Africa as it has in other countries.