No court action has been taken against non-paying e-toll motorists so far, the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) said on Monday.<\/p>\n
“They have not summonsed anyone [to court] yet, otherwise we would know about it,” spokesman John Clarke said.<\/p>\n
“They ought to be doing that as they have had enough time since December.”<\/p>\n
He said there were problems with the e-toll billing system and this could be why the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) was careful about approaching the courts.<\/p>\n
“They [Sanral] are conscious of the chaos in the billing system that magistrates will not be pleased about so they are being careful about approaching court.<\/p>\n
“It [the first e-toll court case] will probably happen after the elections”.<\/p>\n
E-tolling was implemented on Gauteng highways on December 3 despite several court challenges to halt the project.<\/p>\n
Sanral spokesman Vusi Mona could not be reached for comment.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Judical Officers Association of SA (Joasa) has expressed concern over the objectivity of magistrates who could preside over e-toll cases, Beeld newspaper reported on Monday.<\/p>\n
This was because R17 million of the Government Employees Pension Fund, to which magistrates also belonged, had allegedly been invested in the e-tolls project.<\/p>\n
Joasa president Nazeem Joemath said the success of the e-toll project would indirectly benefit magistrates.<\/p>\n
“How would a magistrate argue that an accused would still get a fair hearing?” Joemath was quoted as saying in the Afrikaans daily.<\/p>\n
The newspaper said Transport Minister Dipuo Peters admitted earlier this month that between 23 and 28.6 percent of the 2.5 million motorists using Gauteng highways had bought e-tags.<\/p>\n
DA loses e-toll battle<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n E-tolls must be debated provincially: Outa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n Sanral e-toll harassment must stop: DA<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n