Duvenage did what very few South Africans have done before. The self-styled number one e-toll rebel raised money and embarked on a long and draining legal battle to get government to admit that e-tolling was a giant mistake, and that it should be scrapped.
History will show that Duvenage and Outa did all they could against a government that had decided nothing, and no one, would stop the multi-million rand user-pay system.
And the signs were encouraging: in April 2012, North Gauteng High Court Judge Bill Prinsloo ruled in his favour and interdicted e-tolling at the 11th hour.
A battle in the Constitutional Court, and later back in the North Gauteng High Court, followed.
However, the dismissal of the legal challenge by the Supreme Court of Appeal proved that government, with its unlimited resources spiced up by some influence, will always have its way.
Whether the battle is won or lost, Duvenage will always be a hero and remembered as a great South African who fought for the rights of many.
