Gauntlett says Outa gamble will not pay off

The treasury has slammed the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance's application for a judicial review of the contentious e-tolling scheme as fundamentally flawed.

Treasury advocate Jeremy Gauntlett argued that the right to judicial review was not automatic.

"It is not like a casino" machine and one must go through "the eye of a needle" to be able to bring a review challenge.

In April, Pretoria High Court judge Bill Prinsloo granted an interim order stopping the implementation of e-tolling.

But in September the Constitutional Court set aside the order and said the SA National Roads Agency could proceed with the introduction of e-tolling.

Gauntlett suggested that Judge Prinsloo was swayed by the public outcry over the planned tolls.

He branded the alliance's application a "futile" exercise brought in an "extraordinary" fashion.

He disputed the claim made by the alliance's advocate, Mike Maritz, that Sanral had deliberately misled the public about the true cost of the Gauteng roads improvement project .

Government lawyers have argued that the alliance did nothing while the upgradings were being carried out and went to court only when the bill had to be paid.

The alliance has argued that Sanral pushed through the tolling proposals while most South Africans were caught up in the frenzy of the soccer World Cup.

Gauntlett said the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance's delay in bringing the application was unforgivable.

"Civil society [ is] a watchdog and cannot just sleep in its kennel. It must get out of the kennel and bark."

He said stopping e-tolling would mean that the government could not govern.

Sanral advocate David Unterhalter challenged Maritz to prove his "gratuitous" claims of Sanral's dishonesty and lack of good faith.

Maritz hit back, saying the National Roads Act did not give Sanral free rein to impose tolls and that government policy and exercise of power could not be above the law.

Judge Vorster reserved judgment but said he would give a ruling expeditiously.