The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) and the Department of Transport (DOT) have yet to address the issue of errors in the Government Gazette detailing e-toll tariffs and regulations - and e-toll fees being paid in the meantime should legally be refunded to motorists.
This is according to Justice Project SA (JPSA) chair Howard Dembovsky, who pointed out an error in the official government communication last month. At the time, JPSA's attorneys sent correspondence to transport minister Dipuo Peters, calling on the DOT to immediately repeal the "offending" tariff Gazette and to instruct Sanral to cease the levying and collection of e-tolls until the matter is corrected.
It is now three weeks down the line, and Dembovsky says JPSA has not received a word back. He says, however, the ball is now in the authorities' court.
"The next move is theirs, not ours. They responded to JPSA with a generic media statement, saying the mistake has no bearing on e-toll fees, but they cannot just decide that - it is up to the courts to deem it immaterial."
However, he says, that is not the case. "You cannot make a mistake in a Government Gazette and, according to law, when the Gazette is amended and republished; all the e-toll fees motorists have paid over until that point will have to be paid back. I think they aren't approaching the court because they know what the judge is going to say."
Be that as it may, says Dembovsky, JPSA is not taking the issue any further for now. "Our next move will be to checkmate [Sanral and the DOT] when they prosecute motorists as they have promised. No judge is going to okay the fact that the Gazette contained an error and was not repealed and billing put on hold until it was republished.
"The law doesn't work on a cross-your-fingers-and-hope basis - it has predefined procedures that have to be followed, and Sanral [and the DOT] have not done that."
In a media statement last month, the DOT said: "The noted mistake in question won't affect the validity of the legislation."
A spokesperson for the department this morning said the DOT would send out a statement to notify the public that the Gazette has been amended and replaced.
Billing blunders
Meanwhile, as days pass on Gauteng's highways and government's e-toll system enters its second month of operation, Sanral stays firmly at the top of motorists' hit lists as inflated and misdirected arrears communication - with a threatening undertone - is being sent out to motorists across SA.
One reader commented: "I received a threatening SMS too about unpaid fees. The only problem with this [is] I have never driven my car in JHB. I live in Cape Town!"
Another described how she received a time-stamped bill in excess of R800 while holidaying in Madagascar. The vehicle in question was neither stolen nor driven for all of December, she said.
Sanral has directed motorists who wish to dispute amounts its Violations Processing Centre says are outstanding to its Representation process - a paperwork-heavy procedure requiring an affidavit and Commissioner of Oaths.
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