Legal battle for control of eNatis finally over

AFTER 10 years of legal battles‚ the Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC) has taken over Tasima to run the electronic National Traffic Information System (eNatis).

Transport Minister Joe Maswanganyi said yesterday the sheriff of the court had arrived at the Midrand offices of Tasima to enforce a court order granted by the North Gauteng High Court on Monday.

Tasima’s leave to appeal against a court decision for RTMC to take over its premises and infrastructure was turned down on Wednesday.

“We believe we have come to the end of the road when it comes to legal battles,” Maswanganyi said.

“The department is more than ready to run eNatis. RTMC‚ an agency of the department‚ has been ready since 2015 to administer eNatis.

“However‚ its state of readiness had been delayed by the service provider‚” he said.

“We have trained staff at RTMC. We have also trained personnel in provinces and municipalities.”

Maswanganyi said the takeover would save the Department of Transport an average of R30-million a month, but a lot needed to be done in terms of technology upgrades and maintenance.

He responded to Tasima saying earlier that it would be taking the decision on appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal, and that RTMC had illegally and unlawfully stormed the Tasima offices.

“We did not unlawfully storm the building. The Constitutional Court made the judgment‚ and it was not ambiguous‚” Maswanganyi said.

“The department is just requesting a smooth handover.”