The e-tolls mess just got messier

Posted 23 May 2017

Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has just barred SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) - which has summonsed thousands of Gauteng motorists for non-payment of e-tolls - from arguing 55 cases in court. Outa claims the Roads Agency has not followed court procedures and deadlines. Sanral will now have to restart court procedings from scratch. Further complicating matters is the issue of prescription, as some of this e-toll debt is now more than three years old and therefore may not be payable.

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Sanral slapped down by Concourt over Western Cape toll roads

Posted 13 February 2017

SA National Roads Agency's (SANRAL) has failed in its appeal against a High Court decision issued last year blocking it from launching road tolling on the Cape Winelands route. It seems SANRAL's legal troubles are getting worse, and as the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse has laid charges of perjury against former CEO, Nazir Alli.

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DA's draft bill on toll roads gives provinces a say

Posted 30 December 2016

A new draft bill gazetted by the Democratic Alliance proposes giving provinces a say over whether roads are to be tolled or not. This comes amid public outcry over the SA National Roads Agency and its unsuccessful attempt to bulldoze Gauteng motorists into paying e-tolls. Opponents say e-tolls were implemented unlawfully and without proper public consultation. The ruling ANC may find itself torn over support for this bill. To come out in favour of Sanral and e-tolls with presidential elections just two years away could be political suicide.

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Sanral's mysterious and wishful accounting

Posted 04 November 2016

When will SA National Roads Agency acknowledge that much of its e-tolls debt is unrecoverable?

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Lawyers rake in cash from blizzard of e-tolls summonses

Posted 07 June 2016

Lawyers are raking in fees from the blizzard of summonses issued by the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) over the non-payment of e-tolls. The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA), which is fighting e-tolls, has its own legal team to defend the summonses, and has brought in one of the top legal minds in the country, Gilbert Marcus SC, to prepare for the court battle that lies ahead. This is likely to drag out for years, and could clog the court system. 

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E-tolls protest is in a fight to the death

Posted 23 March 2016

SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) is threatening to issue summonses against motorists who refuse to pay their e-tolls. This probably signals the end of the e-tolls system. Some of the best legal minds in the country are lining up to defend Gauteng motorists against Sanral with the aim of sinking this ill-begotten scheme.

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Gauteng freeways cost 321% more than comparable roads

Posted 23 February 2016

A new study shows that the SA National Roads Agency (Sanral) overpaid by R10bn or 321% when compared with other roads projects completed around the world. There is something grossly wrong with Sanral's road construction, for which Gauteng motorists are being repeatedly flogged. 

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E-tolls: govt can't put lipstick on this pig

Posted 26 January 2016

The ANC is trying to put lipstick on the e-tolls pig, even going to the extent of insulting the estimated 90% of Gauteng motorists who have decided not to pay their e-tolls. This is a mistake the government may come to regret, particularly as local government elections are around the corner.

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Etolls about to collapse

Posted 13 October 2015

Etolls are nearing the end of the highway. As predicted, monthly revenue is down to R60 million while bond repayment obligations are R260 million a monthy. This is a situation which cannot survive.

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Why the new e-tolls system will not work

Posted 28 May 2015

Government has misjudged the level of public opposition to e-tolling, despite its ridiculous claim that e-tolls are not unpopular. It seems most people will continue to refuse paying the tolls that were foisted on them.

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Resistance to e-tolls is not about money

Posted 25 May 2015

Attempts by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa to put fresh lipstick on this pig called e-tolls are doomed to fail. South Africans have had enough of e-tolls, Eskom, Nkandla and anything else this government is trying to sell, according to Neels Blom writing in Business Day.

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DA calls for referendum on e-tolls

Posted 21 January 2015

Has the ANC in Gauteng fudged the e-tolls investigation it completed last year? Judging by its efforts to bring in a "hybrid" form of tolling, the answer is yes. The DA has now called for a referendum into the future of the blighted e-tolls system.

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E-tolls' days are numbered

Posted 13 October 2014

The ANC in Gauteng, with one eye on the electoral hammering it is likely to suffer by backing e-tolls, has broken with the national ANC. Meanwhile the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) says a growing number of Gauteng drivers are "de-tagging" themselves. It's safe to say that e-tolls' days are numbered. 

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E-tolling compared to apartheid as public inquiry concludes

Posted 29 September 2014

Public consultations into the future of e-tolling wrapped up last week with virtually unanimous agreement that the current user-pays system was not working and had to be replaced. Some Gauteng residents compared it to the hated apartheid-era pass book system.

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ANC members start to question party's commitment to e-tolls

Posted 20 September 2014

Cracks are starting to appear in the ANC's commitment to e-tolls and the effect these are having on Gauteng's economic growth. There is a growing fear the e-tolls issue will hurt the party's performance in local government elections in 2016, according to the Saturday Star.

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Only 25% of Gauteng freeway users have e-tags

Posted 24 January 2014

Just 25% of Gauteng freeway users have e-tags, and several court challenges are lining up to test whether SANRAL has acted legally in bringing this massively expensive solution to the residents of Gauteng. It doesn't help SANRAL's case that hundreds of instances of mis-billing are being reported. 

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