More than two years after Tasima was finally evicted from the premises where the electronic national traffic information system (eNaTIS ) is housed in Midrand, the company still believes the state owes it more than R70m for services rendered.

Tasima is the company that developed and maintained eNaTIS for more than 15 years. The system allows the state to administer the licensing of all motor vehicles, drivers’ tests, learner licence tests, contraventions of road traffic legislation and the roadworthiness of vehicles across all nine provinces.

The eNaTIS system is self-financing by means of the eNaTIS transaction fees paid by the public. The state receives in excess of R900m per year in transaction fees.

Tasima lost its ownership of the system when the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) took over eNaTIS after evicting Tasima from the premises on April 5 2017.

A second judgment by the Constitutional Court in July last year meant that Tasima’s bid to hold on to eNaTIS had been dismissed - for good.

However, this has not stopped Tasima from demanding millions it believes are due to it.

In court papers filed last week, the company asked the high court in Pretoria to order the department of transport and the RTMC to pay just over R71m.

Tasima director Zuko Vabaza said in an affidavit that the company was the sole entity responsible for the development, operation, management, control, support and maintenance of eNaTIS for almost 15 years.

Vabaza said at all times from the system’s development in 2007 to September 2016, the costs of the system had been paid by the state, generally through the department of transport.

“In respect of the period from October 2016 to April 5 2017, however, the state refused to pay costs related to the eNaTIS (despite undertakings to the contrary). Resultantly, Tasima has had to incur and meet these costs itself (to the extent that it could pay such costs),” said Vabaza.

Tasima is claiming costs for three periods:

• The first is for October 2016 until the Constitutional Court judgment on November 9 2016. In that judgment, the court ordered Tasima to hand over eNaTIS to the RTMC within 30 days of that order.
• The second period is from November 9 2016 to December 3 2016 - during the transfer period ordered by the Constitutional Court.
• The third is for December 23 2016 to April 5 2017, when Tasima was finally evicted.

Vabaza said the state’s attitude appeared to be that not only was Tasima expected to operate the eNaTIS system for free during this period, but at a loss of millions of rands per month.

He said the state’s opportunistic effort, in the wake of the ConCourt judgment of November 2016, to simply refuse to pay for costs for which it had always been liable, was unlawful.

“Tasima is plainly entitled to reimbursement of these costs, which had to be incurred and were incurred for the national good,” said Vabaza.

The RTMC indicated that it intends opposing the application.