E-tolling may be put on hold once again as judge Bill Prinsloo at the Pretoria High Court has upheld the urgent application against e-tolling.
The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) lodged an urgent application to get e-tolling interdicted. It says Sanral is not ready to go ahead with the system on 30 April as the promised exemptions for public transport and emergency vehicles are not in place as yet.
Prinsloo this morning granted the urgent application but reiterated that this does not mean e-tolling cannot proceed. It means the application by OUTA will be heard before it does. A decision on whether or not the interdict has been granted and e-tolling is postponed will be made before the end of the week.
Late announcement
The case was heard yesterday and closing arguments were made today. Sanral and the National Treasury argued that the case is not urgent, should be postponed and questioned why the application was not made against e-tolling earlier.
Essentially, Sanral argued it's too late to apply for an interdict against e-tolling, and OUTA said there wasn't enough information available to do this at an earlier stage, according to DA Gauteng Caucus leader Jack Bloom.
At the time of publication, it had not yet been announced on which date OUTA's application would be heard.
In reaction to the ruling, Bloom says Prinsloo's decision to allow OUTA's application against the e-tolls, on the basis of urgency, marks a great day for SA's democracy. “We hope the tolls will be permanently stopped. The people of Gauteng will be immensely relieved by this court decision as it is a blow against government arrogance and high-handedness.”
Ruling today
Sanral said the introduction of the penalty tariff issues made it a different case and, therefore, more time was needed to respond.
Meanwhile, the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) says the general strike planned for 30 April has been postponed until the second week of May.
“This is to give time to assess the outcome of the meeting of the Cosatu and ANC leadership which will take place on 26 April, the legal action being taken by OUTA against Sanral, and any future legal action that Cosatu or others may take.”
Other mass action will, however, continue as planned, including today's march to the Department of Transport in Tshwane and a blockade of the e-toll highways on 30 April.
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