The City of Cape Town says a decision by the South African National Roads Agency (Sanral) to appeal the Supreme Court of Appeal judgement that put the brakes on the agency’s plans to toll the N1 and N2 highways in the Western Cape is irrational.
In September the Supreme Court dismissed Sanral’s appeal against a Western Cape High Court ruling that set aside the agency’s declaration to toll sections of the highways.
The City of Cape Town said on Thursday that it had been informed Sanral had filed an application for leave to appeal to the Constitutional Court.
"This is an irrational decision. Even more so when one considers that the city has won every round in court since we launched our review application on March 28 2012 to set aside the approvals that enabled Sanral to toll sections of the N1 and N2 freeways in Cape Town," said Brett Herron, Cape Town’s mayoral committee member responsible for transport.
The decision to approach the Constitutional Court was a waste of taxpayers’ money, which was "highly irresponsible".
As of September 20 – after four-and-a-half years of battles against Sanral – the city’s legal costs in the Winelands tolling matter stood at more than R20m. This does not include Sanral’s legal costs or those of national government departments involved in earlier litigation.
"We asked Sanral at the time to finally concede that they followed an improper and unlawful process which, if it was left unopposed, would have resulted in Western Cape road users paying R62bn in toll fees over a period of 30 years," Herron said, adding that Sanral should work with the city to find a solution for the infrastructural upgrades that might be required for the N1 and N2 freeways.
A Sanral representative said on Thursday that the agency would release a statement on the matter later.
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