Any hopes motorists may have had of a toll-free holiday season have been dashed, with today's last ditch attempt to halt the project - a legal challenge by the Freedom Front Plus (FF+) - having been blown out of the water.
North Gauteng High Court Judge Mabel Jansen's gavel came down on the party's attempt to induce a recall of the bill that makes e-tolling legal - or get an interim interdict to halt the project for a while - at around 2pm.
According to the spurned party, its application was struck off the roll due to a lack of urgency. The FF+ argued this morning that the Transport Laws and Related Matters Amendment Bill (the E-toll Bill) was classified incorrectly when it was passed and, as such, was not constitutional.
At about 2:30 today, after about four hours in court, the FF+ tweeted: "(Translation) E-toll judge Jansen found no urgency in the application of unconstitutionality and discarded the case. Further action is planned."
This means government's controversial e-toll system, which has seen a number of on/off go-live dates, will finally commence - at midnight.
The SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) and Department of Transport (DOT) have welcomed the commencement of the project, which has lost the state-owned roads agency millions in revenue due to the months of expenses that were not matched with income from e-tolling.
However, the FF+ has refused to lay the matter to rest, saying "the battle is far from over". The party's transport spokesperson Anton Alberts was not immediately available for comment, but a spokesperson confirmed the group's official Twitter account (@VFPlus) would update followers on the situation.
A series of tweets posted shortly after Jansen released his verdict indicate the FF+'s indignation at the decision not to follow up on its application: "(Translation) The line had already been drawn in the sand and the independence of the judiciary lies shattered. The public's money will start flowing out of the country as of tomorrow."
The party says 3 December 2013 will go down in history as "(translation) the day the government of SA sold its people out".
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