Popular resistance could be undoing of e-tolls in Gauteng

Popular resistance could be undoing of e-tolls in Gauteng.

THE controversial e-toll bill signed into law last week is set for another legal challenge with the Freedom Front Plus (FF Plus) claiming it was incorrectly processed in Parliament, making it unconstitutional.
The party is heading to the North Gauteng High Court after obtaining a legal opinion earlier this year that found the bill had been improperly tagged and processed, making it unconstitutional.

President Jacob Zuma signed the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill into law last week after waiting more than three months, during which time speculation ran high that the unpopular bill would be held over until after next year’s election. The bill was signed on the same day the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), the civil society grouping that has been fighting e-tolls since last year, concluded its argument in the Supreme Court of Appeal.
Anton Alberts, an advocate and spokesman for FF Plus, said the party’s legal opinion was valid. "We have sent the opinion to the president, to our advocates, and they are busy studying it and they are preparing to launch an application to declare the bill unconstitutional," he said.
"We have been advised that we have a good prospect of winning should we go to court. We are also waiting for the outcome of the Outa case as well. If they are successful then launching (our) application would not be necessary," Mr Alberts said.
The bill was a "section 75 bill — a regular bill — which means it does not have to go through the National Council of Provinces", but "we are saying it was a section 76 bill and must go through the provinces".
The FF Plus is also seeking the legal opinion that Mr Zuma relied on to inform his decision to sign the bill into law. The Presidency "seem quite reluctant to give that to us. We might have to make an application under the Promotion of Access to Information Act to get hold of that as well," Mr Alberts said.
Department of Transport spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said this week the bill was now an act of government and there were no issues surrounding its legality.

He said the department was working to publish the tariff schedule as well as the regulations within two weeks. Once these had been published, a 30-day period would start, allowing for public comment.
Outa chairman Wayne Duvenage said on Wednesday he doubted tolling would begin this year. "If the history of their launch dates is anything to go by, I very much doubt they will launch this year. But even if they do, launching is one thing … running a successful e-toll collection process on a sustainable basis is something else.…"

One of the issues that the FF Plus has with the E-toll Act is the power granted to the Minister of Transport to "amend the contents of the SANRAL Act". It is this power that the FF Plus will allow the Minister to create a new force of peace officers to enforce the payment of toll fees.
Mr Alberts said the Act also indicated that it is unlikely that the toll road programme will rely on the Criminal Procedure Act as there is recognition that the number of enforcement violations generated by the toll roads would overwhelm the courts.

Mr Alberts said state prosecutors were already unwilling to prosecute Aarto offenses and had indicated they had little appetite to prosecute what is expected to be an enormous volume of violations created by the non payment of toll fees.
With about 900,000 daily transactions expected to be recorded by the road’s toll system and a best case scenario – based on international best practice of mature tolling systems of between 80% and 90% compliance –
Mr Rikhotso said the department was not contemplating any other enforcement system apart from the use of the CPA, which is what is contained in the Sanral Act for enforcement purposes.

by Nicky Smith


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