Road Safety Highlights News Section

Sanral won't appeal decision on halting of e-toll according to reports

Tue, 15 May 2012 11:08:35 +0200

15 May 2012

The SA National Roads Agency Ltd (Sanral) will not appeal against the temporary court order halting e-tolling, it was reported on Tuesday.

This has emerged from a letter from Sanral's lawyers, Beeld newspaper reported.

Pieter Conradie, lawyer for the Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance, said on Monday he had thus far not received any notification that requests to lodge an appeal had been handed in.

Judge Bill Prinsloo issued a court order on April 28 in the North Gauteng High Court in Pretoria against the rollout of the e-tolling system in Gauteng.

The order prevents Sanral from levying tolls on Gauteng's roads before the entire system and decisions pertaining to it have been examined in a revision hearing.

Conradie said although neither the transport department, Sanral, nor the Treasury had given any indication that they planned to appeal, he had received a letter from Sanral's lawyers.

"According to the letter, Sanral will make its records available to us this week."

These records included agreements signed with Electronic Toll Collection, the company contracted to levy the tolls.

- SAPA

End to taxi protest in Johannesburg

Mon, 14 May 2012 07:16:34 +0200

14 May 2012

A protest by disgruntled Johannesburg taxi operators was over by 16:00 on Monday and taxis were back on the roads, the SA National Taxi Council (Santaco) said.

More than 800 taxi operators marched in central Johannesburg on Monday to hand over a memorandum at the transport department in Pritchard Street.

They demanded to be allowed to use street lanes reserved for the city's bus rapid transit system (BRT).

Santaco spokesperson Thabisho Molelekwa said the protest was not led by the taxi industry.

He said issues the protest aimed to highlight were issues Santaco had already raised with the transport department.

"The main issue raised by the taxi drivers on Monday was the fact that they also wanted the privilege of using the BRT lanes. They feel that they are equally providing public transport."

Molelekwa said the taxi drivers were frustrated because of the rising petrol price and law enforcement officers removing licence discs from taxis.

This rendered them unable to operate, causing commuters to seek alternative transport to work. He said this resulted in them being habitually late.

"There are also unconfirmed reports that e-tolling is one of the issues," Molelekwa said.

The protest left thousands of commuters stranded on Monday morning, the SABC reported.

Affected areas included many Soweto suburbs, Vosloorus on the East Rand, and the Vaal Triangle. Many commuters were unaware the protest was taking place, the broadcaster reported.

- SAPA

Football star Steven Pienaar fined for speeding in the UK

Thu, 10 May 2012 02:44:34 +0200

10 May 2012

Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Steven Pienaar, who is on loan at Everton, has been fined £1 000 and had seven points added to his driving licence - after telling a court he missed a previous hearing because he moved house, according to the bournelocal.co.uk website.

The 30-year-old South Africa international was previously found guilty in his absence of failing to disclose who was driving his Aston Martin DBS after it was twice caught speeding last October.

At Chelmsford Magistrates' Court, those convictions were withdrawn and he instead admitted two counts of speeding after saying he had not been aware of the earlier allegations.

As he appeared in a secure dock wearing blue jeans and a black jacket, he laughed as the court clerk told magistrates: "Apparently he's a footballer. I'm not a football fan."

His lawyer, Gwynn Lewis, said Pienaar had missed the hearing after moving from his previous address in Theydon Road, Epping, Essex, to Ibbotson Lane, Liverpool, when he was loaned back to former club Everton by Tottenham in January.

Lewis said: "He wasn't aware of the previous court hearing - the first he heard of it was when he read press reports and he then handed himself in to police in Warrington straight away."

Prosecutor Joseph Stickings told the court the Aston Martin was caught by a fixed speed camera on Lambourne Road, Chigwell, doing 38mph in a 30mph zone on October 10 and again doing 43mph on the same road on October 21.

Lewis said his client was in a "privileged position" in terms of salary but did not reveal his precise wage in court.

Pienaar had not realised he needed to transfer the registration of his car to his new address, he added.

Pienaar paid the fine of £1 000 plus £175 in legal costs and a victim surcharge before leaving court. He was given three points for the 38mph offence and four for the 43mph offence.

Court finds horse owner has to pay widow damages after bike crash

Wed, 09 May 2012 12:20:33 +0200

9 May 2012

A horse owner has been ordered by the Free State High Court to pay R180 000 to the widow of a motorcyclist killed when he crashed into the animal, Beeld reported on Wednesday.

Magritha Swanepoel, 44, of Pretoria, had lodged the claim against Riaan Rhind in her capacity as mother of three children aged 10, 9 and 7.

Acting Judge Henriette Murray on Tuesday also ordered Rhind, owner of the farm Protea near Senekal, to pay Swanepoel's legal costs.

Louis Swanepoel, 44, died in August 2007 when he crashed into Rhind's horse Flash, en route to Hennenman, where his wife and children were visiting a relative.

Magritha Swanepoel drove back to Pretoria the following day to find her husband missing. After making numerous phone she found out that her husband's body was in the Bethlehem mortuary.

- SAPA

SANRAL CEO Nazir Alli resigns

Tue, 08 May 2012 09:53:26 +0200

8 May 2012

Sanral says its immediate priority is to ensure that it continues to perform its essential role in operating and maintaining South Africa's national roads, following the resignation of CEO Nazir Alli.

"The immediate focus and priority of the board is to ensure that Sanral continues to perform its essential role in operating and maintaining more than 16,000km of national roads across South Africa," chairperson Tembakazi Mnyaka said in a statement.

"The board will ensure that Sanral contributes to and co-operates with the deliberations now underway," he said.

Alli resigned at a meeting on Monday, the agency said.

Alli would continue in his post until June 3, Mnyaka said.

He thanked Alli for his contribution since Sanral's inception in 1998. Sanral did not give reasons for Alli's resignation.

On Friday Cabinet appointed a special committee, to be chaired by Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe, to co-ordinate work around the GFIP. The committee would, among other things, try and ensure Sanral's financial stability was not affected by the halt to e-tolling. The toll fees would have been used to repay Sanral's R20bn debt.

The Democratic Alliance said last week it had asked Public Protector Thuli Madonsela to probe e-toll collection contracts.

A full court review would be carried out to determine the future of the Gauteng tolling system.

[News24]

Driving Specialist welcomes Resignation of Nazir Alli

Road safety specialist and long-time opponent of e-tolling, Rob Handfield - Jones, has welcomed the announcement that Nazir Alli, CEO of SANRAL, has resigned. "SANRAL's approach under Alli's tenure was one of bombastic forcefulness, with little thought given to the average road user," he said. "He will be remembered primarily for his arrogance in the face of huge public opposition to e-tolling, and it would not surprise me if that issue led to his downfall," he added.

"On the other hand, I congratulate him for having had the good grace to resign when his position had clearly become untenable. It is a refreshing move in an era where government officials and executives at state-owned entities are virtually unremovable regardless of their follies," he commented. He said that Alli's resignation should not mean he would not be available for the court-ordered review of e-tolling. “Alli was central to the entire e-tolling fiasco. His departure in no way absolves him from the responsibility of explaining the decisions which led to e-tolling and he should be compelled to do so, by subpoena if necessary.”

Handfield-Jones said he hoped SANRAL's board would choose a new CEO who was more willing to engage constructively with civil society. "SANRAL has edged towards totalitarianism in its approach and it is time that this stance was re-adjusted towards one of transparency and dialogue," he concluded.

SUBJECT: JPSA WELCOMES RESIGNATION OF NAZIR ALLI

JOHANNESBURG – Justice Project South Africa (JPSA) welcomes the resignation of Mr Nazir Alli as the CEO of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (SOC), presumably over the eTolling debacle that has evoked such huge public outrage in recent months.

Whilst Mr Alli’s dictatorial and often aggressive style has angered many over the years, it is interesting to note that SANRAL has stated that it will not entertain any further comment beyond their media announcement issued today. This openly shows that Mr Alli’s claims to the effect that he was merely implementing the policy of his employers where not only true but stands as a clear indictment that SANRAL has no intention of changing its ways when it comes to communication.

It must also be remembered that the tactics employed recently, with rushed legislative changes and the most recent announcement of the “delay” by one month of the implementation of eTolls on the day of conclusion of legal arguments in the North Gauteng High Court did not come from SANRAL or Mr Alli, but from top management of the Department of Transport itself.

Although Mr Alli has indeed done the “honourable thing” by resigning, we must be careful not to allow the eTolls issue to be turned into a personal thing about one man, who was admittedly the driving force behind it but was certainly not the be all and end all of it. We must remain mindful that nothing that he did could have been done without the sanction and support of other parties, not least of which was the Department of Transport and people within its top management.

His resignation does not spell the “death knoll” of the eTolling issue, but merely represents the removal of a single hurdle to progress on the resolution of this matter. The roads still need to be paid for, but a better funding model that does not threaten the livelihoods of citizens must be found and it must be found soon.

Howard Dembovsky may be contacted for further comment.