Disrespect for human rights – Outa
Outa has accused Sanral of being dishonest and responsiveness with the users of Gauteng’s E-roads.
John Clarke, spokesperson for Outa, has lodged a 10 000-word complaint with the Office of the Public Protector on behalf of Gauteng citizens.
He accuses Sanral of breaching no less than seven of the entrenched human rights contained in Chapter Two of the Constitution.
“Since Outa offered to mediate complaints to the Public Protector on behalf of the public, the nature of the complaints immediately suggested that the rights to Privacy, Access to Information, Dignity and Just Administrative Action were relevant.
“As the avalanche gained momentum and our learning curve steepened, the right to Freedom of Movement, Equality before the Law and even Freedom of Conscience began to crystallise,”says Clarke.
He has listed 10 “statements of grievance” to substantiate the alleged violations with corroborating information from media sources and interviews with people visiting E-toll customer service centres.
“Perhaps the most worrying aspect concerns the allegations of violations of the right to privacy on the one hand, and the failure of Sanral and its agents to respect the constitutional right of access to truthful information on the other.”
He adds that there have been three security breaches of Sanral’s IT systems, which allows anyone to obtain full access to personal information of users.
“Although they have apparently patched the flaws, no apology nor letter has been sent to their registered website to warn them to change their passwords or pin numbers.”
The report asks the Public Protector to mediate these grievances to Sanral CEO, Nazir Alli, MEC for Transport, Ismail Vadi, and Aating Director-Gen of Transport, Mawethu Vilana, in the hope that a face-to-face meeting with the various anti E-toll lobby group will take place urgently.
“It is time for Sanral executives to face the truth of what has surfaced over the past eight weeks,” says Clarke.
Outa will place the submission to the Public Protector on its website at www.outa.co.za
