Motorists on the planned N1 and N2 Winelands highways in the Western Cape will face tariffs of up to three times those charged on Gauteng roads, should a controversial plan to introduce etolls by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) go ahead.

The information was revealed this morning by the City of Cape Town, following a decision by the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein this morning to overturn a previous judgement ordering Sanral’s planning report into the matter to be kept secret.

A group of interested parties including The City of Cape Town, several media houses and the Right2Know campaign took the case to the appeal court, following a decision made in August last year to restrict access based on commercial confidentiality.

Councillor Brett Herron published details in a press statement this morning, in which it’s also claimed that Sanral signed a deal with the Protea Parkways Consortium (PPC), which holds the concession to toll the N1 and N2, under the terms of which Sanral will be liable to make up any difference to PPC should the transport minister impose lower caps on Cape etolls.

“The Supreme Court ruling is a victory for transparency and accountability and the constitutionally enshrined right of access to information that is held by the State and its entities in all spheres of government,” the statement reads.

It also alleges that the decision to declare the Winelands routes toll roads was taken by Sanral CEO Nazir Alli, and not by the Sanral board as required by the Sanral Act.

The details of the report reckon that expected toll revenue is in the region of R48 billion, and would see a base tariff of 84.59 cents per kilometer, compared to 30c/km in Gauteng. In addition, public transport vehicles are only entitled to 50% discount against the cost of etolls, rather than full exclusion as is the case in Gauteng.

The City intends to disclose more details into the structure of the arrangement between Sanral and PPC at a hearing on 25th April.