The Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) has won a high court order against South Africa’s National Roads Agency (Sanral), ordering it to hand over a copy of its toll contract with Trans African Concessions (Trac), along with financial and other records.
A statement released by Outa said: “The concession contract gives Trac the right to operate the N4 toll road, which runs from the City of Tshwane to the Maputo port.
“On November 15, the Pretoria High Court ordered Sanral to hand over the documents to Outa within 15 days of the order being served on it.”
In addition to the court’s findings, Sanral was also ordered to pay Outa’s court costs.
Outa executive director, advocate Stephanie Fick, said: “This is another big win for transparency. Sanral refused to provide the documents requested and forced Outa to resort to legal action.
“All Sanral really managed to do was delay the inevitable. Unfortunately, this is a strategy frequently used by government to block information."
Outa CEO Wayne Duvenage, responding via social media, described the verdict earlier this week as “good news for civil society”.
He indicated that more advances against such non-disclosure would follow.
Homing in on what it means for the tax-paying public’s right to hold parastatals to account, Duvenage said: “Imagine for a moment the arrogance. This state company works on behalf of its citizens, you and I. Yet they don't seem to think so and have refused to heed our request for access to financial information that the public (who pay these tolls), have every right to have.
“For two years we have been rebuffed and now, eventually, a court has instructed them to do so.
“When a state-owned company (and its concessionaires) try to keep information out of the public eye, and do everything they can to block you, the rat gets bigger and smellier by the day.”
