Outa stands by its report, vows to reveal more

Johannesburg - The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) stands by its report that the Gauteng Freeway project was overpriced by either 152% or 321%.

This comes after it was harshly criticised by the SA National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) earlier this week.

"Two days ago Sanral had a [press conference] attempting to vilify our report," Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage told reporters in Johannesburg on Thursday.

"We believe that Sanral fails to discredit Outa's report. We stand by our paper and the conclusions along with the recommendations within our report."

Sanral alleged in its presentation that Outa's report is filled with inaccuracies, and misrepresentations, and should not be taken seriously.

On Thursday, Duwenage defended the report saying the organisation had compared 11 case studies including a 2008 Netherlands Impact Study. However, if Sanral wanted to discredit the reports that Outa had referenced, they were free to do so, he said.

"If they don't find them credible, they must tell us. They must also tell us if we have referenced poor or unreliable reports."

Duwenage said concerns raised by Outa and the media in the past regarding the seemingly high construction costs of the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP) were yet to be met with a meaningful and sufficient response.

He said if it was indeed true that the project had been significantly overpriced, the impact on the decision to toll would have serious consequences for the public and the economy.

In a number of media reports Sanral CEO had also accused Outa of promoting lawlessness by encouraging people not to pay their e-toll accounts.

Duwenage denied this, saying the roads had not yet been declared toll roads by any court of law.

"Outa continues to claim its position that not paying for e-tolls is not unlawful."

He said the organisation did not want to create disharmony or to promote lawlessness and had never opposed the building, upgrading and non-payment of the Gauteng Freeway project.

While Outa's report had found that the project may have been overpriced by either 152% or 321%, the extent of overpricing was not yet clear as Sanral claimed it was still calculating the costs. 

"Our agenda is to seek lawful, transparent and co-operative governance by our state-owned institutions," he said.

He said the public had the right and should be encouraged to stand up to misleading statements, bullying and coercive practices of the state as well as their state owned entities.

"Outa is sincere when we say, we do not seek the demise of Sanral or any state-owned entity. These, when well run, are critical for the success of our nation.

"We are not Sanral's enemy, and neither are we their subjects."