E-toll protests outside High Court
Members of the FF Plus held placards outside the High Court in Pretoria on Monday ahead of the party’s last-minute attempt to stop the implementation of e-tolling.
“Stop e-tolls, stop e-tolls, stop e-tolls,” the placards read.
There were around 15 members in Freedom Front Plus attire outside.
Last week, the party’s spokesman Anton Alberts said he was confident of victory in its application, claiming the state had made critical technical errors with the announcement of the implementation date of e-tolls.
He said in terms of the Sanral Act, there had to be a 14-day difference between the date on which the commencement of e-tolling was announced, and the date on which the system was implemented.
He said the system was only meant to start operating on December 4, not December 3. On November 20, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced that e-tolling of Gauteng’s highways would begin on Tuesday.
There will be irreparable harm to motorists if the e-toll regulations are not declared invalid, the FF Plus argued.
“Motorists will be prejudiced,” the Freedom Front Plus’s legal counsel said.
“If tomorrow [e-tolling] commences, it will mean the members of the public will be criminally prosecuted.. and have judgments taken against them.”
The court heard there were a lot of affidavits to process, and a special judge should have been requested. The party’s counsel argued that if the application was delayed, it would cause harm.
He said it would be easier to delay e-tolling for two or three weeks, so that all the papers could be properly examined.
The party argues the State had made critical technical errors with the announcement of the implementation date of e-tolls. In terms of the Sanral Act, there has to be a 14-day delay between the date on which the commencement of the e-tolls is announced, and the date on which the system is implemented.
In effect, the system was only meant to start operating on December 4, not December 3, according to the party.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced on November 20 that e-tolling of Gauteng’s highways would begin on Tuesday.
More on e-tolls and Sanral
E-toll fines, jail time and criminal records: the truth
What if you don’t pay e-tolls?
DA launches new anti-e-toll billboards
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