Sanral has issued a tender for contractors to take over its e-toll system.
"The fact that Outa [Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance] will be able to face us in court is important. We believe that we have a strong legal case … ," South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral) spokesperson Vusi Mona said in a statement on Friday.
"Outa has every right to have their voices heard, but it has come at great cost to South Africans and our economy."
Democratic Alliance spokesperson Mmusi Maimane made the announcement on Friday morning.
"This is in response to Outa's public call on May 10 to assist with funding their court action," he said in a statement.
Outa said it had raised over half-a-million rand from public donations since Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, Outa chair Wayne Duvenage said Outa might have to drop its court challenge to e-tolls on Gauteng's highways if it did not raise an extra R1-million in three weeks.
Mona said the DA's donation "came as no surprise".
E-tolling is the 'only viable option'
"Sanral has long maintained that the DA has decided to politicise an issue which is essentially about infrastructural and economic development," he said.
"The move today by the DA effectively makes Outa its political proxy."
Mona said tolling remained the "only viable option" in terms of financing the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project.
Outa has fought a lengthy court battle to prevent the implementation of e-tolls.
In April, Sanral said it would begin e-tolling on Gauteng roads within two months.
In April last year, the North Gauteng High Court granted Outa an interdict approving a full judicial review before electronic tolling could be put into effect.
Levying or collecting e-tolls
The interdict prevented Sanral from levying or collecting e-tolls pending the outcome of a review. Sanral and the National Treasury appealed the court order.
In September last year, the Constitutional Court set aside the interim order, and in December the North Gauteng High Court dismissed Outa's application to scrap e-tolls.
The court granted Outa leave on January 25 this year to take the matter to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein.
The appeal is expected to be heard in September. – Sapa