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Cape Town - Parliament and Sanral welcomed a judgment in their favour on Thursday that dismissed an application to have e-tolling legislation declared unconstitutional and invalid.
"We urge those who have questioned the legality of this bill to respect the court's judgment," SA National Roads Agency spokesperson Vusi Mona said.
He said Gauteng road users were increasingly registering for e-tags as the need for and advantages of the system were "widely accepted".
Parliament said the judgment had vindicated two of the respondents, National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu and National Council of Provinces (NCOP) chair Mninwa Mahlangu.
"The judgment is a vindication for the Parliamentary process which was followed in the enactment of the [amendment] act and the role of the joint tagging mechanism in exercising its constitutional function."
The Democratic Alliance approached the Western Cape High Court after the transport laws and related matters amendment bill was enacted in September last year.
The amendments were primarily intended to facilitate the electronic monitoring of traffic through toll plazas and the electronic collection of the tolls.
The DA had argued the amendments were unconstitutional and invalid because they had not been passed according to what it deemed to be proper procedure, which would be with input from the provinces.
Western Cape High Court Judge Owen Rogers dismissed the application on Thursdayand said it was clear in his mind that provincial legislatures had no power to pass legislation aimed at meeting the purposes identified in the act.
The DA was not ordered to pay costs because Rogers believed the case had raised "genuine and substantive constitutional issues".
DA Gauteng premier candidate Mmusi Maimane said the party intended filing an application for leave to appeal against the judgment.
Transport Minister Dipuo Peters on Tuesday called on all parties to respect the independence of the judicial system by not continuing to question e-tolls processes.
“It must be noted by all that we have been to various courts on this matter of e-tolling wherein various aspects of the process were queried," said Peters.
"In all these processes the judiciary found that there was nothing untoward or illegal about the processes followed by government and/or its agencies.”
She said the country needs for infrastructure cannot be turned into a political game where political parties hijack genuine challenges for narrow, selfish interests.
