Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance chairman Wayne Duvenage. Picture: MARTIN RHODES

The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) said on Monday it had decided to appeal against the North Gauteng High Court judgment passed last month.

This judgment effectively dismissed a review launched by Outa to set aside the South African National Roads Agency’s (Sanral’s) decision to declare several sections of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project as a continuous toll road.

After the judgment was handed down last month, Outa’s members met and decided that the high court was wrong with regard to a number of issues and should not go unchallenged.

Key among these issues was that Acting Judge Louis Vorster held that the public did not have to be properly informed of the extent of Sanral’s plans to upgrade and electronically toll the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project. Further, he said it was not necessary for Sanral to bring these plans to the attention of road users through publication in the media.

Outa said section 27 of the Sanral Act required Sanral to conduct a meaningful public participation process at the outset, which was not done.

At a legal meeting with its attorneys on Monday, Outa agreed to proceed with its application to seek leave to appeal Acting Judge Vorster’s judgment.

Outa emphasised that while the legal e-toll debate has become very technical, road users must not be distracted from the simple fact that the e-toll scheme remains an unacceptably expensive and inefficient way of funding infrastructure.

In addition, the government and Sanral have not yet presented any convincing plan for alternative public transport and secondary road capacity to accommodate road users and to try and decongest the highways.

Further, the central argument of ‘user pays’ adopted by the government has been found to be logically flawed by applying both various tariff exemptions and caps.

Outa’s decision was taken after in-depth discussion by its members and support from the public. However, its ability to continue with the appeal would depend on much-needed financial contributions from the business community and public, Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said.

The application for leave to appeal must be lodged by Wednesday.

 

 

Source: http://www.bdlive.co.za/national/2013/01/07/outa-to-appeal-against-high-court-e-tolling-judgment