There’s no sign that the opposition to tolling Gauteng’s highways is exhausted by its long campaign. Evidence is mounting that the entire project may collapse amid widespread civil disobedience, administrative challenges and legal obstacles.

The latest evidence that all is not well is the inconsistency in reported e-tag sales. Anti-toll activists on Twitter have distributed a photograph of sales points open for business with not a soul in sight. Meanwhile, the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) has contradicted former transport minister Sbu Ndebele, by announcing that sales by April 2013 had reached 250 000, which is only half the number of the half a million Ndebele claimed exactly a year earlier. Since then, the number has stood mysteriously at 600 000 for several months, suggesting they’re making them up as they go along.