Share

Sanral defends e-toll contract

Johannesburg - A confidentiality agreement on the Gauteng electronic toll collection contract was not designed to conceal information, Sanral said on Wednesday.

"The pricing of the ORT [open road tolling] contract with ETC (Pty) Ltd as well as related information... has been available on the Sanral website since June 2012," SA National Roads Agency Limited said in a statement.

"The information requested by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) is and remains the intellectual property of third party organisations."

Contractual undertakings of confidentiality were given to these parties by Sanral when the contracts were concluded in terms of standard practice.

Outa on Monday said it had to sign a confidentiality agreement to get information on the contracts.

This was the only way Outa was able to get access to the ETC contract to prepare for its court case.

The Star newspaper reported that parts of the high court review of the e-tolling project in November could be held in camera because of the confidentiality agreement.

Last month, the Constitutional Court overturned an interim order which put a hold on the e-tolling project.

The Constitutional Court found the High Court in Pretoria had not considered the separation of powers between the high court and the executive.

On April 28 the high court granted Outa an interdict, ruling that a full review needed to be carried out before electronic tolling could be put into effect.

The interdict prevented Sanral from levying or collecting e-tolls pending the outcome of the review.

Sanral and the National Treasury appealed against the court order, and said the delays prevented the payment of the R21bn debt incurred during the project.

The review was expected take place in the High Court in Pretoria in November.

Sanral said the legal process in which the contracts were being used was currently underway.

"Sanral remains concerned about on-going statements made in the media about various aspects of this matter, which appear to be designed to cast doubt on the process and litigate the matter rather in a court of public opinion, as part of an ongoing fund-raising exercise," it said.

This undermined the court process and the constitutional rights of those involved.
We live in a world where facts and fiction get blurred
Who we choose to trust can have a profound impact on our lives. Join thousands of devoted South Africans who look to News24 to bring them news they can trust every day. As we celebrate 25 years, become a News24 subscriber as we strive to keep you informed, inspired and empowered.
Join News24 today
heading
description
username
Show Comments ()
Rand - Dollar
19.07
+0.5%
Rand - Pound
23.60
+1.0%
Rand - Euro
20.32
+0.3%
Rand - Aus dollar
12.24
+0.5%
Rand - Yen
0.12
+0.4%
Platinum
943.20
-0.8%
Palladium
1,035.50
+0.6%
Gold
2,388.72
+0.4%
Silver
28.63
+1.4%
Brent Crude
87.11
-0.2%
Top 40
67,314
+0.2%
All Share
73,364
+0.1%
Resource 10
63,285
-0.0%
Industrial 25
98,701
+0.3%
Financial 15
15,499
+0.1%
All JSE data delayed by at least 15 minutes Iress logo
Company Snapshot
Editorial feedback and complaints

Contact the public editor with feedback for our journalists, complaints, queries or suggestions about articles on News24.

LEARN MORE
Government tenders

Find public sector tender opportunities in South Africa here.

Government tenders
This portal provides access to information on all tenders made by all public sector organisations in all spheres of government.
Browse tenders