Pretoria – A last-minute payment by Tasima has averted the collapse of the Electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis), for now.
According to Simon Zwane, spokesperson of the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Tasima on Friday afternoon paid 40% of the R8 million they owed to Telkom, for services rendered regarding the eNatis system. On Friday, Telkom had terminated all landlines to the eNatis headquarters and the system was off line in the Western Cape, said Zane. On Monday Telkom was to terminate all data services as well. It is not clear when Tasima will pay the outstanding amount.
The Automobile Association was warning motorists that with the current issues regarding eNatis, they could experience problems with vehicle licence discs, licence renewals and the payment of traffic fines.
Howard Dembovsky, the national chairperson of the Justice Project South Africa, said that the system going down for even a day would have a detrimental effect on the nation’s transport system. “Law enforcement can't check for stolen vehicles. This system is vital for those 12.5 million cars on the road,” said Dembovsky.
Ekurhuleni Metro Police spokesman Wilfred Kgasago said that if the eNatis system went down, if would be a problem for them. “When eNatis goes down, we often have to rely on the SAPS database to check vehicles,” he said.
Wayne Minnaar, the spokesperson for the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, referred queries to the RTMC.
Zwane asked the public to bare with the RTMC as it was in the public’s interest as Tasima was operating illegally and in defiance of the Constitutional Court.
At the root of the looming disaster is the long-standing tug of war involving the RTMC and the Department of Transport and eNatis service provider, Tasima.
Last November, the Constitutional Court declared the contract with Tasima had been unlawful since 2015.
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It ordered that Tasima hand over the system to RTMC within 30 days, unless an alternative transfer management plan – a so-called migrant plan – could be agreed on. The department and RTMC wanted Tasina to hand over the system by December 10. Tasima, on the other hand, relied on the migrant plan and said as it was a complicated process which could take several months.
The department and RTMC now want Tasima to urgently vacate the premises at Waterfall City in Midrand from where it operates and hand over the database and equipment. They intended asking the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria, on Tuesday to kick out Tasima.
However, Telkom threatened to cut all lines connecting the eNatis unless it was paid R8m by on Friday afternoon.
The department then on an extremely urgent basis asked for Tasima’s eviction.
Etienne Labuschagne SC, said the department could not pay the Telkom bill, unless Tasima surrendered and immediately handed over the system.
He told Judge Hans Fabricius that the Constitutional Court declared Tasima’s contract illegal and the department could not pay for unlawful services. The department asked that if Tasima did not want to vacate following an order, the police should step in and ensure that it did, as the premises was a national keypoint.
He said vital information of the country’s millions of vehicle owners were stored on the database and needed to be protected.
Tasima, on the other hand, said until November last year, the department paid the eNatis expenses, including Telkom. In a counter-application, it asked for an order, saying it had settled the R8m. It also accused the department of holding the eNatis to a ransom.
Judge Fabricius said it was impossible to resolve these issues in the urgent court as the court papers ran into more than 600 pages.
The judge wanted to know: “If this case cannot be heard today (Friday), will the whole country collapse?”
Paul McNally SC, for Tasima, responded: “I cannot say that is not true.” He said if the department paid Telkom immediately, it would save the situation.
The judge decided to remove the matter from the roll and ordered the parties to speak to Deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba to allocate a judge to hear the matter.
Judge Ledwaba in chambers told the parties to return on Wednesday, and the matter would be heard over two days.
But while waiting in court for Ledwaba’s decision, lawyers for the department received notice from Telkom that it had already cut the phone lines and that the data would follow on Monday.
“We need an order now,” Advocate Makhosini Msibi told Independent Media. He described the situation as extremely dire and said come Monday, the entire country’s road management would come to a standstill.
Zwane said they would be back in court on Thursday.