JOHANNESBURG - Several weeks after announcing "The South African National Roads Agency SOC Limited (SANRAL) would like to unequivocally state that no staff from either SANRAL or its toll operator, ETC, have conducted any roadblocks as described in the emails and social network postings that allege this" on the SANRAL website and in media releases sent out to the press, SANRAL has commissioned auditing firm Deloitte & Touche to conduct a "forensic investigation" into the matter. This has come after Howard Dembovsky of Justice Project SA sent an email to several parties at SANRAL, including but not limited to its CEO Nazir Alli enquiring why it was that such a claim had been made without him so much as being contacted to shed any light on the matter.
The word "unequivocally" means "leaving no doubt and/or unambiguous" and one has to ask why SANRAL chose to put the cart before the horse in issuing such a definitive statement and only initiating an investigation several weeks after doing so. But putting the cart before the horse seems to be the manner in which SANRAL operates and this is evident by the entire saga that has surrounded the Open Road Tolling (eTolling) issue of the Johannesburg and Pretoria freeways.
"I can confirm that I have met with Advocate Tommy Prins of Deloitte & Touche and have furnished him with information that has come into my possession" said Dembovsky. "I can also confirm that I have visited the Linksfield Road onramp to the N3 South freeway during the course of this week and have filmed the entire stretch of the onramp where it was claimed by SANRAL that their staff were doing road markings and there are no new markings, and indeed no markings associated with tolling on that onramp" he said.
Several people have claimed that they were stopped in the roadblock that took place on Sunday 22 January and one has even stated that she was told that if she did not register there and then, she would be given a "spot fine" of R4,500, which she would have to pay immediately. Because these people wish to remain anonymous and not risk reprisals or intimidation, SANRAL has chosen to label their statements as "rumours".
It is not at all uncommon for people to feel threatened and worried that if they come forward with information they will be targeted and thereby put themselves and their families at risk. To the contrary, this fear is a very real one and little or nothing has been done to allay these fears.
However, this having been said, JPSA would like to appeal to anyone who was affected by this or any other "roadblock" to contact Advocate Prins directly - or if they would be more comfortable doing so, to approach JPSA who will keep their personal details strictly confidential if they do not wish to be named.
It is interesting to note that, despite commissioning this "independent forensic investigation" on 7 February 2012 , SANRAL seems to have chosen to keep this fact quite and it has been left to JPSA to call for members of the public to come forward with information. Surely if SANRAL really wants to get to the bottom of this, one would think that they would have shouted from the rooftops that they have commissioned this investigation? It is difficult to imagine how an investigation into this matter can succeed if no witness statements are sought and 11 days after the investigation has been launched.
Anyone who is prepared to provide information on this mysterious event is urged to contact any one of the following people urgently:
Deloitte & Touche
Advocate Tommy Prins (SC)
Tel: 011 806 5484 or 012 482 0262
Direct Fax: 011 388 5005
Cell: 082 824 2815
Email: tprins@deloitte.co.za
Justice Project South Africa
Please see details here and ask for Howard Dembovsky.