Some of Sanral's tolling 'secrets'

6 Aug 2014

Blacked-out documents relating to Sanral's tolling plans for the N1 and N2 highways in the Western Cape - that have kept secret for years - were released on Tuesday (5 August) by the Cape Town High Court

Despite its best efforts to keep all details about the Winelands toll roads secret, Sanral was ordered to hand over some documents to the City of Cape and the Right2Know campaign. Image: Galetti

Sanral and the preferred bidder, Protea Parkways Consortium (PPC), fought hard to prevent the tolling details from being revealed to the public.

The court reserved judgment on the secrecy hearing but ordered that certain edited court papers be released, a move welcomed by non-governmental organisations as giving a small but important glimpse into the project.

New details emerging from these documents include that Connor Dawson, a director of Group Five Infrastructure Developments, is PPC's N1-N2 Winelands toll highway Project Leader.

In an affidavit arguing that the information was of a "commercial" nature and should be kept secret, Dawson said PPC was worried the details could end up in the hands of its competitor, Overberg.

"The tender process has not been finalised. PPC is merely the preferred bidder and its status may be revoked. A long and arduous negotiation process, which will last anything from eight to 12 months, lies ahead before the concession contract will be finalised. PPC can lose its preferred bidder status during this time and can be replaced with Overberg," said Dawson.

Cape Town and Sanral have been embroiled in a bitter court battle over implementation of the project. The city is seeking an order to prevent the agency from continuing with its plans until the court has ruled on the matter.

Source: The Times via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

For more than two decades, I-Net Bridge has been one of South Africa’s preferred electronic providers of innovative solutions, data of the highest calibre, reliable platforms and excellent supporting systems. Our products include workstations, web applications and data feeds packaged with in-depth news and powerful analytical tools empowering clients to make meaningful decisions.

We pride ourselves on our wide variety of in-house skills, encompassing multiple platforms and applications. These skills enable us to not only function as a first class facility, but also design, implement and support all our client needs at a level that confirms I-Net Bridge a leader in its field.

Go to: http://www.inet.co.za