The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral), which heads up the Gauteng province’s controversial highway electronic tolling (e-toll) project, has evacuated its office in Midrand as a result of an anthrax scare on Tuesday.

Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona has confirmed to ITWeb Africa that Sanral has evacuated staff from its Midrand office, which is situated along the N1 highway between Johannesburg and Pretoria.

Mona told ITWeb Africa that the evacuation has occurred following the discovery of a white substance in the building.

It is unclear as to whether the substance is anthrax.

Sanral has subsequently notified the City of Tshwane’s hazardous material unit about the discovery, Mona told ITWeb Africa.

Controversy and public anger has dogged Gauteng’s controversial e-toll project, which went live in December 2013.

The South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) took out a R20 billion loan to finance the ‘Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project’.

To pay back the debt, Sanral has adopted the e-toll system to charge road users for driving along the province’s highways.

But the likes of the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) has fought against the project in court, losing a bid to halt e-tolls.

*Additional reporting by Simnikiwe Mzekandaba.