Outa appeal set down for Friday

"Outa remains committed to this case, which largely seeks to protect citizen's constitutional rights, along with challenging the onerous, expensive, inefficient and cumbersome matters related to the decision to toll Gauteng's freeways," it said in a statement on Tuesday (22 January).

The appeal follows a judgment on 13 December by the High Court in Pretoria, which dismissed Outa's application to have the electronic tolling of Gauteng's major roads scrapped.

The court ordered Outa to pay the legal costs of the application. Outa said it also intended appealing this order.

Outa is raising funds to pay for the appeal and pleaded with businesses and the public to support it.

"We are heartened by the fact that society has helped us raise R8m to date, however we need another R2,5m to cover current costs and still require an estimated R1,5m for the appeal process."

Previously, Outa chairman Musa Strachan said the organisation believed it had strong grounds for appeal.

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 for the proposed project.

"Public participation requires that sufficient information about the project must be provided. People need to have the knowledge and time 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".

He said in this regard, Outa maintains that procedural and objective fairness had not been applied, making the introduction of e-tolls unlawful.

Souce: Sapa via I-Net Bridge