E-tolls legal battle enters first stage of test case

Pending the completion of an e-toll test case process that started in June 2016, by legal agreement with SANRAL, all current and future OUTA supporters who are represented by OUTA’s legal team are now provisionally immune from legal claims by SANRAL for non-payment of e-tolls.

After several months of negotiation, SANRAL have through their lawyers, finally agreed to stay all legal claims against supporters of the public who either already are, or will in future become OUTA supporters. The agreed stay of legal claims is pending the completion of the test case process that started in June 2016, and which could realistically take more than two years to complete. “The agreement effectively grants the entire OUTA supporter community immunity until the case is complete. Our aim is to show that e-tolling is unlawful in the test case, and should we succeed, the stay of legal claims will become permanent.” says Wayne Duvenage, Chairman of the Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (OUTA).

Unfortunately, SANRAL expressly rejected OUTA’s proposal to include the stay of persecution to public at large in this agreement. Thus, only those individuals and businesses who become Members of OUTA and opt to fall under OUTA’s e-toll Defence Umbrella (now or in future), will thereby fall under the agreement.

At the same time, SANRAL have clearly indicated they intend to continue applying legal action and summonsing e-toll defaulters outside OUTA’s supportership base. All indications are that new rounds of summons are being issued by SANRAL.

“One would imagine that SANRAL would have halted their persecution of all e-toll defaulters, until OUTA’s test case had reached its conclusion, however, SANRAL have clearly indicated they intend to continue summonsing e-toll defaulters and continuing legal action, regardless of this test case,” says Wayne Duvenage.  ”More worrying for SANRAL is the fact that all their summonses issued between March 2016 and mid-August 2016, were seriously erroneous and significantly flawed to the extent that we maintain these as being excipiable, ie their declarations do not conform to the rules of court.”

Until the authorities stop listening to SANRAL’s nonsense and come to their senses by pulling the plug on the scheme, OUTA will continue to fight for the rights of society and do what is necessary to halt the e-toll debacle.