Madam Deputy Speaker, in 1991 the Supreme Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the Johannesburg City Council in an action brought by a very courageous city council to interdict the South African Roads Board from tolling the N13, known as the Southern Bypass, from Uncle Charlie's in the west to the Rand Airport in the east. What is important is that the court granted the interdict because the audi auteram partem principle had not been applied. That means that the council had not been given an opportunity to be heard regarding the consequences of the proposed tolling. This toll road was then stopped.
The ACDP believes that the present tolling project was also not preceded by a proper consultation process. Some have said the project was conceived in deceit, sold to the public as one of the benefits of hosting the 2010 Soccer World Cup and no mention was made of tolls. A much-belated consultation process was held following public outrage and after toll gates had already been erected. Taxpayers were told that there was a debt of R20 billion that could not be serviced unless taxpayers paid for the tolls. Surely consultation should have taken place before the debt was incurred. It would no doubt be argued in court again that the audi auteram partem principle has yet again not been complied with.
Tolls were introduced under two critical conditions: only new national roads would be tolled and alternative routes would always be available. Suburban roads are now sought to be tolled, with people expected to pay tolls for roads they have already paid for. This is on top of a massive 20c increase in the fuel levy. Minister, while the ACDP appreciates this additional adjustment is a step in the right direction, we believe the whole issue of levying tolls on existing roads must be reconsidered. While we thus support the Additional Adjustments Appropriation Bill, we do not support the Gauteng freeway tolling system.