The City of Cape Town may file a court interdict to prevent the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) from moving ahead with the N2 Winelands toll project, Mayoral committee member for transport, roads and stormwater Bret Herron said on Friday.

The controversial 30-year concession project would be developed through a public–private partnership. The concessionaire will finance the construction, maintenance and operation through the toll collection and be required to hand over the road to Sanral after this time.

The City of Cape Town has declared a formal intergovernmental dispute with Sanral with regard to the tolling of sections of the N1 and N2 highways within the its municipal boundaries.

But despite the formal dispute, Sanral CEO Nazir Alli reportedly said on a debate aired by radio station 567 Cape Talk this week that construction would start in February.

“We are busy briefing the council, who would then advise us on the prospects of the success of an interdict to prevent Sanral from taking this any further,” Herron said.

The city believes that both the environmental-impact assessment and intent to toll processes were flawed, and that Sanral had not addressed the city's concerns, including socioeconomic impacts, such as the negative impacts of tolling on the poor and agricultural communities.

Deputy Transport Minister Jeremy Cronin was quoted in the Cape Times saying that the city might try to take legal recourse to have it halted or scrapped. “I can't say it definitely won't happen then,” he said.

With regard to tolling, he said Sanral should "hold its fire" when it comes to tolling roads, and that the issue of toll roads was being discussed at a national level.

Earlier this month, Sanral awarded the preferred bidder status to the Protea Parkways Consortium comprising South African companies Group Five and Basil and France’s Bouygues Travaux Publics.