Wed May 22 21:12:36 SAST 2013
Wed May 22 21:12:36 SAST 2013

AfriForum donates R100,000 towards e-Tolling case

Aug 14, 2012 | Sapa - PR | 25 comments

Civil rights organisation, AfriForum, donated an amount of R100 000 to the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (OUTA) as a contribution towards OUTA's legal costs in the court case against the implementation of e-tolling on Gauteng highways.

The Constitutional Court case, in which government is appealing the interdict granted by the North Gauteng High Court against the implementation of e-tolling, will be heard tomorrow (Wednesday, 15 August).

Kallie Kriel, AfriForum's CEO, appealed to the public, companies and other civil organisations to follow the example of AfriForum by also contributing towards OUTA's legal costs, as a successful court battle against the e-toll system would be to the benefit of all in the country.

According to Kriel, the authorities have a misconception that they can get away with the misappropriation of public money - as is the case with the exorbitantly high e-tolling collection costs - because they believe civil society does not have the resources to call government to account in court. "Time and again contributions by the public have made it possible for AfriForum to tackle malpractices in court, and AfriForum believes the public will now also make it possible for OUTA to pursue its court battle against e-tolling to the full," Kriel said.

Persons wishing to make a contribution towards OUTA's legal costs can do so directly via OUTA's website, or could donate R10 via AfriForum's SMS line by SMSing the word "toll" to 38655.

Tomorrow's constitutional court case is, according to Kriel, also of critical importance because government wrongly asserts that the interdict against e-tolling amounts to the court having violated government's powers to formulate policy. "It is important that this misconception be challenged in court. No court prescribes government policy, however, when the implementation of any policy is in contravention of the Constitution or legislation, then the courts have a clear constitutional mandate to ensure that the Constitution and legislation are complied with," Kriel said.

Kriel pointed out that government should rather see to it that the policy it implements is not in contempt of the Constitution and legislation. "Government is threatening the rule of law by continuously treating the courts as scapegoat for government's disregard of the law," Kriel added.

Comments

Wed May 22 21:12:36 SAST 2013 ::
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Aug 14, 2012

somaartakeit

That my friends is putting your money where you mouth is, well done AfriForum I often wonder where SA would be without whites to fight fiercely against corruption to build us the infrastructure we enjoy today, as SA is ranked in the world amongst the countries with great infrastructures, anyway let me not get carried away, well done AfriForum you are fighting a just cause.
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Aug 14, 2012

malemaforpresident

SMS line by SMSing the word "toll" to 38655
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Thibelang mahodi thiiiiiiibang Now i am calling on all bloggers to do the right thing lets sms this is how corruption should be treated Viiiiiva AfriForum viva Manyi wanyelaa fooool siiis stealing from the poor nxaaa and we still facing another fuel price hike
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Aug 14, 2012

DJWinner

ha ha ha ha...who are they fooling here? Is it because this thing is going to affect white people as well?
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Aug 14, 2012

tpaz

Public stunt.......Nxa

E toll is coming whether you like or not. It will be a criminal offense if you don't pay. They are amending the constitution.
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Aug 14, 2012

somaartakeit

@DJWinner you are not very sharp are you? the ones who will be affected most are the low income earners should the gov succeed in implement this, also in addition to be stupid all the time don't be racist as well cause its really a bad mix, ask ET if you don't believe me.
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Aug 14, 2012

somaartakeit

@Tpaz think about this, if it comes into effect, many private companies will have to retrench in order to cover and save costs, the ones that will be affected are in the transport/courier services such as DHL, XPS are you getting the pic already:-) so before you banish them as 'publicity stance' please think,
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Aug 14, 2012

somaartakeit

not to mention that most of public commuters will also feel the brunt of the e-toll taxi hikes, so instead of being ignorant you ought to need to unite against ppl who trying to win the day for you guys.
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Aug 14, 2012

malemaforpresident

somaartakeit
@DJWinner you are not very sharp are you? the ones who will be affected most are the low income earners should the gov succeed in implement this, also in addition to be stupid all the time don't be racist as well cause its really a bad mix, ask ET if you don't believe me.
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Spot on chief this is not about racism and we know DJWinner is driving fiat uno mlilo 2doors with 1.3 engine white people and mostly farmers are driving Ford v8 engine bakkies

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Aug 14, 2012

Home1234

AriForm is doing the right thing, and in theory the opposition to these toll roads should win without a doubt, but this is a country that is dysfunctional to the point of no return thanks to a ruling party that is utterly incompetent and completely corrupt. They use tax payers' money for their own personal benefit, so that they need even more money from the tax payers' when it comes to paying for things that we desperately need. This is such an insult to every honest, hard working South African, but I fear there will be no mercy here. The ruling party is not in the least concerned about the consequences of the additional burden to the tax payer. This is not about us, its about them. Cars, women, charter flights, houses, parties ..... that's what they use our money for. Even if another party were to come into power, how will they ever fix this mess??
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Aug 14, 2012

imeanit

The lawyers or advocates that are handling this case are going to make a killing... I wonder how much those advocates will be donating towards the legal costs.
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