Johannesburg - The Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance has
filed its appeal against e-tolls in the North Gauteng High Court, the organisation
said on Wednesday.
Outa chairperson Musa Strachan said the application for
leave to appeal was filed in court on Tuesday.
"Outa members firmly believe that the grounds and
merits of this appeal are very strong and that leaving the judgment
unchallenged will set a significantly erroneous precedent."
Strachan said the constitutional interpretation of Section
27 of the Sanral Act required that the SA National Roads Agency Limited
(Sanral) should have given adequate notice to the public of the proposed
project.
The appeal follows a judgment on December 13 by the High
Court in Pretoria which dismissed an application by Outa to have the electronic
tolling of Gauteng's major roads scrapped.
The court ordered Outa to pay the legal costs of the application.
Outa also intended appealing this order.
The appeal had to be lodged with the court by January 9.
"Public participation requires that sufficient
information about the project must be provided .... such that those impacted
are empowered with knowledge and time to have the ability, if so required, to
exert a possible effect on the outcome of the decision," he said.
Strachan said in the e-tolling case, public participation
was not possible "yet the court ruled that public engagement was sufficient
and adequate".
In this regard, Outa maintains that procedural and objective
fairness had not been applied, making e-tolls introduction unlawful, he said.
The judgment also erroneously relied on a minority judgment
from the Constitutional Court ruling and thereby misrepresented and ignored
crucial aspects of Outa's case.
"This misinterpretation of the Constitutional Court
judgment had the effect of setting aside Outa's argument that the Minister of
Transport's decision was irrational because his approval was conducted without
knowledge of e-toll collection costs," he said.
Outa's founding members are the SA Vehicle Renting and
Leasing Association, the SA Tourism Service Association, Retail Motor
Industries of SA, the Quadpara Association of SA, and the SA National Consumers
Union.
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