Johannesburg - The Constitutional Court will hear arguments
on Friday as to why it should overturn an interim interdict preventing
e-tolling in Gauteng from going ahead.
According to the interdict granted by the High Court in
Pretoria on April 28, a full review first needed to be carried out before
electronic tolling of Gauteng's highways could be implemented.
The SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) and National
Treasury were appealing the order.
The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa), which was
granted the interdict, would oppose it.
Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan applied to the
Constitutional Court to set aside the court order preventing Sanral from
implementing e-tolling.
Gordhan argued that Judge Bill Prinsloo had ignored the
principle of the separation of powers. He said the decision to halt e-tolling
would negatively affect the economy. In its reply, Outa said Sanral was still
not ready to launch the project.
On Monday, the Democratic Alliance (DA) said it had applied
to join the Constitutional Court case.
"As a political party, the DA has an interest in the
key issue in this case, namely the extent to which courts can and should
exercise their powers to interdict government," DA MPL Jack Bloom said in
a statement.
The party had asked to be admitted as a friend of the court
to make a "substantive contribution" to the case.
"Outa has not opposed our application, but Sanral and
the National Treasury have indicated their opposition.
"If government wins, then expect to see more decisions
like the e-tolls pushed through without proper consultation," Bloom said.
The High Court in Pretoria would hear further arguments in
the e-toll case on November 26.
Under the project, motorists would pay over R0.35/km to
travel on some of Gauteng's major roads.
The project had been scheduled to start on April 30, but was postponed after a meeting between the ANC and its alliance partner, the Congress of SA Trade Unions.
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