There will be irreparable harm to motorists if the e-toll regulations are not declared invalid, the FF Plus argued in the High Court in Pretoria on Monday.
“Motorists will be prejudiced,” the Freedom Front Plus’s legal counsel said.
“If tomorrow [e-tolling] commences, it will mean the members of the public will be criminally prosecuted... and have judgments taken against them.”
The court heard there were a lot of affidavits to process, and a special judge should have been requested. The party’s counsel argued that if the application was delayed, it would cause harm.
He said it would be easier to delay e-tolling for two or three weeks, so that all the papers could be properly examined.
The party argues the State had made critical technical errors with the announcement of the implementation date of e-tolls. In terms of the Sanral Act, there has to be a 14-day delay between the date on which the commencement of the e-tolls is announced, and the date on which the system is implemented.
In effect, the system was only meant to start operating on December 4, not December 3, according to the party.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters announced on November 20 that e-tolling of Gauteng’s highways would begin on Tuesday.
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