Gauteng road users should ready themselves to pay tolls, as all expectations are the Constitutional Court will overrule a High Court interdict preventing the implementation of e-tolls in the province. Road Freight Association (RFA) spokesman Gavin Kelly last week said it was clear during the one-day proceedings on Wednesday (August 15) that the Constitutional Court would not rule against government policy. “They have said this to us in many ways already so the expectation is that the interdict will be overruled and that tolling will begin,” he said. The RFA had lodged an application to join the e-toll case in the Constitutional Court but Chief Justice Mogoeng Mogoeng dismissed it with costs. Kelly said while they were disappointed about the decision it was, however, not the end of the world. “We are still free to start our own separate proceedings against e-tolling,” he said. “We are meeting with our legal team and taking advice on our next step. We will, however, wait for the Constitutional Court ruling.” This ruling is expected within the next fourteen days. The National Treasury and the South African National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) lodged an appeal before the Constitutional Court following an interdict granted against e-tolling by the High Court in Pretoria on April 28. The interdict was granted to the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) along with the instruction that a full review had to be carried out before the court before the highways in Gauteng could be tolled. If the Constitutional Court overrules this court order, tolling is expected to start as soon as possible.
