Tolls can't be put on hold again, court told

2012-04-24 16:20

Pretoria - The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) should not be entitled to another postponement of the Gauteng e-tolling system, the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria heard on Tuesday.

"There must be an extraordinary good reason to postpone the scheme again," said Vincent Maleka, legal representative for the transport minister and Gauteng transport MEC.

E-tolling had already been postponed last year June.

Maleka was presenting arguments for why Outa's application should not be seen as urgent.

"In a nutshell there is no rational basis to postpone the matter," he argued before Judge Bill Prinsloo.

He said Outa in its founding affidavit only gave one reason for why tolling should be postponed. It said it was because hundreds of motorists would suffer because of the price.

"Those reasons are not enough," said Maleka.

He pointed out that in its affidavit Outa said that it supported the need for upgrades and road additions that had been planned by the Gauteng freeway improvement project when it was necessary.

"They don't reject the need for improvement... They want to enjoy the benefits of the improvements, but they don't want to pay for it," he said.

Maleka said he agreed with David Unterhalter, legal representative for the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral), that Outa was four years too late.

The toll declaration was made on March 28, 2008.

He asked Judge Prinsloo to strike the application off the roll and reward costs.

- SAPA