Pretoria – The South African National Road Agency SOC Limited (Sanral) says claims made by the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) in media interviews following the Supreme Court of Appeal’s dismissal of their application are “inflammatory and fly in the face of nation building”.
In various media interviews this week, Outa chairperson Wayne Duvenage made claims around the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project (GFIP), which Sanral says it finds shocking.
“Some of them are misinformation, some of them are just … lies. It is concerning that Outa continues to do this. It is one thing to fight a legal battle which you believe in, but it is another all together to spread lies and incorrect information.
“Some of it borders on incitement and some of it amounts to shouting ‘fire’ in a packed cinema hall. Frankly, it is downright irresponsible, especially coming from a former captain of industry like Duvenage, who should be familiar with the user-pays principle,” said Sanral spokesperson Vusi Mona.
Mona urged the people of Gauteng to remember that Sanral had consulted with various experts in their fields in the planning and construction of GFIP.
He said that Duvenage was neither an engineer nor a lawyer, and “would implore him to stop commenting on issues which fall outside his expertise”.
“We would also ask him to refrain from making statements on behalf of various stakeholders without their knowledge or buy in,” Mona said.
On Thursday, Outa said that roads in Johannesburg would become death traps, as trucking companies would chose to avoid the Gauteng highway network and toll gantries.
However, the Road Freight Association (RFA) has already refuted this claim.
RFA spokesperson Gavin Kelly said that trucks would not skip tolls. Kelly also highlighted the fact that the RFA had previously engaged with Sanral and the Department of Transport in order to reduce tariff rates.
“[This is] another fact which flies in the face of claims that Sanral has steamrolled GFIP without any consultation. Outa and other opponents of e-tolling have also begun calls for civil disobedience, in effect, calling on members of the public to break the law.
“Sanral would like to reiterate Cabinet’s call on all law abiding citizens to purchase e-tags to ensure that they qualify for the discounts on e-tolling that have been put in place. E-tolling is government policy and has been signed into law,” Mona said.
He said Outa’s claims that the courts of the land have not looked at the merits of their case were also concerning.
“One would hope that they would have accepted the decision of the court or exercised their legal rights. It is time for us as a country to move forward and ensure the success of one of the biggest infrastructure developments in the history of this nation,” Mona said. – SAnews.gov.za
