Etolls on Gauteng’s freeways are about as popular of the prospect of listening to Kenny G on an endless loop. It’s perhaps for this reason that the City of Cape Town has been fighting tooth and nail to prevent Sanral from being implementing them in the Western Cape.

The fight has now been taken to the Western Cape High Court where the City will today be squaring off with Sanral over the latter’s plans to place tolls on portions of the N1 and N2 freeways.

“Our application could be regarded as the trial of the century, as the outcome will have far-reaching consequences for the future of our city and the generations who live here for decades to come,” said the city’s mayoral committee member for transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.

Herron expects the matter to be finalised by Friday, and said that it will do everything in its power to prevent Sanral from “imposing an unjust, unwarranted and devastating tolling decision.”

He added that since the City decided to launch the fight against Sanral, he claims that the roads agency has been trying to “hide the truth from a democratically elected government and the people we were elected to serve.”

Herron continued that Sanral’s actions were inconsistent with the country’s Constitution and the principles of transparency and collaboration.

“It required extraordinary efforts on our part, including an application to the Supreme Court of Appeal, to get to the truth of this proposed tolling project, and to be able to share that truth with the residents of Cape Town.”

Herron detailed what the City will be fighting for, highlighting a number of points it will argue:

• The decision of the then National Minister for the Environment to provide an environmental authorisation for the tolling without considering the socio-economic impact of tolling, as he was required to do, was unlawful
• The decision of the then Minister of Transport to declare the highways as toll roads was also unlawful since he failed to consider the merits and impact of tolling
• The Sanral Board never made the decision to declare the N1 and N2 as toll roads as it was required to do. By implication, we will argue that the decision to toll was made by the CEO of Sanral who was unauthorised to do so
• The decision and the implementation of tolling will have a damaging impact on our city and regional economy and those impacts have not been properly considered
• The tolling of the N1 and N2 will cause disproportionate financial harm and hardship to the poorest of our residents
• In 2013 Sanral was about to enter into a contract with PPC which would have been reckless and irrational. The City obtained an interim order preventing that agreement being signed
• One example is the proposed agreement requires Sanral to reimburse PPC for any loss of revenue caused by the National Minister setting toll tariffs at rates lower than PPC’s tendered rate. PPC’s tender is 84 c/km including VAT. National Government recently capped the e-toll tariffs in Gauteng at 30 c/km including VAT. If motorists in the Western Cape and Gauteng were to be charged the same, then Sanral would have to pay PPC a conservatively estimated R29 billion – in addition to the tolls which motorists would have to pay to PPC. Sanral contingent liability is more than what it would cost Sanral to construct the upgrades proposed by PPC and to continue maintaining and operating the N1 and N2 freeways as it currently does. Sanral and the National Government never considered this massive risk and were unaware of it until the City discovered it when analysing the documents which Sanral tried to keep secret
• The costs of the proposed tolls on the N1 and N2 significantly outweigh the benefits to toll-paying motorists

“We have prepared a compelling case against the proposed tolling of the N1 and N2 and we will do our utmost to prevail. I cannot predict the outcome of the arguments that will ensue in the days ahead, but I remain reasonably confident and optimistic. The fight to prevent urban tolling will not end with this hearing, nor with this case,” Herron concluded.

[Image – CC by 2.0/Marceau ROUVRE]