City application for leave to appeal the SANRAL secrecy matter granted by Supreme Court of Appeal
The City of Cape Town is pleased to announce that on Friday 28 November 2014, the Supreme Court of Appeal granted it leave to appeal the relief granted to the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SANRAL) by the High Court in their initial application to reduce transparency surrounding the proposed N1 and N2 tolling systems.
The effect of the High Court order was that, regardless of the fact that the City succeeded in its opposition to the applications of SANRAL and the Protea Parkway Consortium (PPC), the City still could not file its supplementary papers in an open court.
The High Court order in effect sealed, until the hearing of the review, not only the supplementary papers, but also any response to them in answering affidavits and any reply on those issues in the replying affidavits. In fact, it prohibited the publication of the most significant parts of the City's supplementary papers - the toll fees, the total expected revenue, the proportion of the profits, the underestimate of construction costs, and the cost-benefit ratio.
The City's initial application for leave to appeal this relief was dismissed by the High Court on a procedural aspect and not on substantive issues. To quote from paragraph 19 of the judgment that was delivered on 8 October 2014, the judge stated: ‘...if it had not been for the effect of section 17(1)(c) (of the Superior Courts Act 10 of 2013) I would, on balance, have inclined in favour of granting leave to appeal...'.
‘The City is opposing this tolling project, as well as SANRAL's application that our founding papers should be kept secret, with all of the resources at our disposal. This matter is of utmost importance, especially when one bears in mind that the City believes that the tolling will have a disproportionately negative effect on poorer residents.
‘The Supreme Court of Appeal has given us an expedited hearing date of 18 March 2015 to ensure that a final decision on this matter can be reached well before the hearing of the review proceedings. This will assist in creating a properly informed public debate about the desirability of the proposed tolling system,' said the City's Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, Councillor Brett Herron.
Statement issued by Councillor Brett Herron, Mayoral Committee Member: Transport for Cape Town, City of Cape Town, December 1 2014
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