People who fail to pay e-tolls must 'suffer the consequences'

To pay or not to pay - is it a criminal offence or not? Image: First Car Rental

The justice lobby group argues that non-payment of e-tolls is not a criminal offence and accuses Sanral of misleading the public in claiming that the failure to pay toll fees is against the law.

Sanral responded to the Justice Project South Africa's statements by dismissing them as incorrect and bordering on "irresponsibility and a despicable attitude towards the rule of law".

Sanral claimed in a statement that the group and its chairman Howard Dembovsky were confusing two different legal processes - one under the Administrative Adjudication of Road Traffic Offences Act (Aarto) and the other a prosecution under the Criminal Procedures Act.

"It should be noted that the non-payment of tolls is a criminal offence in terms of the South African National Roads Agency Act and enforcement will be done in terms of the Criminal Procedure Act and not Aarto‚ as assumed by Howard Dembovsky‚" Sanral said.

Traffic offences decriminalised

Dembovsky had claimed that because the Aarto Act decriminalised road traffic offences‚ no one could be guilty of a criminal offence for non-payment of e-tolls‚ as Sanral asserted.

However‚ Sanral said the legal obligation to pay tolls arose from using the toll road and passing underneath a toll gantry that is sign-posted in accordance with the required legislation.

"The legal obligation to pay tolls does not arise from an invoice that is forwarded to a user. In terms of the e-road regulations‚ the user has a 7-day grace period to pay the toll," Sanral said.

Sanral is obliged to issue an invoice for the payment of outstanding e-tolls but only to those who have already defaulted by not paying within the 7-day grace period.

"There is no regulation that says motorists must first use the toll road and then the agency will send them an invoice. Payment is due immediately one passes under a gantry‚ but motorists have a 7-day grace period to pay‚" Sanral said.

Sanral was equally dismissive about the "continuous assertions" by Dembovsky that the Department of Transport and Sanral would have to obtain a declaratory order deeming the provisions of the e-tolling laws to be valid in light of the mistakes in the e-toll tariffs published in the Government Gazette.

The agency referred to an opinion by retired law expert Professor Marinus Wiechers to the effect that an obvious mistake in the gazette would not affect the validity of the legislation.

"If the Justice Project South Africa will not trust his opinion‚ it must approach the courts to obtain the declaratory order it is so excited about. We don't share its enthusiasm in this regard‚" Sanral said.