Sanral runs up R177m advertising bill
3 June 2016
Cape Town - The South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) spent R177m of taxpayer money on advertising in the 2015-16 financial year, Transport Minister Dipuo Peters disclosed in response to a parliamentary question by Thembekile Majola of the Democratic Alliance.
Sanral is currently appealing a judgment in which the Western Cape High Court effectively halted the agency’s plan to toll parts of the N1 and N2 in the Western Cape.
In September 2015, the court set aside the toll plan in a judgment and ordered Sanral to review its plans for the highways. In addition, the court ruled that if Sanral wanted to proceed with its toll plans it had to start from scratch and conduct a proper public participation process.Sanral was subsequently granted leave to appeal the ruling and the case will be heard in the Appeals Court in Bloemfontein in the second part of this year.
In the run-up to and during last year’s legal process, the agency placed a number of adverts, including inserts, in Western Cape newspapers to explain the rationale behind tolling national roads in the province.