COSATU welcomes e-toll postponement
The Congress of South African Trade Unions warmly welcomes the news that e-tolling in Gauteng will not commence during February 2012.
This is a significant victory for the millions of residents of Gauteng who have expressed their total opposition to this attempt to force them to pay huge amounts of extra money just to travel on the province's highways.
It is a victory for COSATU and its affiliates whose members faced the prospect of paying out hundreds of extra rands just to travel to and from work.
It is victory for Gauteng consumers who faced massive increased prices as a result of the extra cost of transporting goods to the shops being passed on to shoppers.
The decision follows a meeting between Transport Minister Comrade Sibusiso Ndebele and the board of the South African National Roads Agency Limited (Sanral).
Sanral agreed to "address the current stakeholder concerns and issues raised in the petitions submitted to the Minister". It says it is "committed to meeting all its obligations to the stakeholders, and is exploring different modalities".
The Sanral Board will present their findings to the Minister, following which the Minister will present a report to Cabinet. We urge the minister and cabinet to take note of the mass opposition to these tolls and instruct Sanral to abandon them for good.
Meanwhile we continue to urge motorists not to register with Sanral or buy e-tags, and our members remain mobilised for a campaign of mass action if today's decision is reversed.
The federation calls upon government to prioritise the roll-out of efficient, reliable, affordable and safe public transport for all the people of South Africa.
Statement issued by Patrick Craven, COSATU national spokesperson, January 13 2012
DA WELCOMES SANRAL STATEMENT THAT E-TOLLING WILL NOT COMMENCE IN FEBRUARY
The Democratic Alliance (DA) welcomes South African National Roads Agency Limited's (SANRAL) announcement that E-Tolling in Gauteng will not commence in February.
We are not surprised by this decision as SANRAL has not done their homework and there has not been nearly enough consultation.
We anticipate further delays in the implementation date as there are still many vital legal and logistical issues that need clarification. These include the issue of prosecutions for non payment, the categories of taxis and busses to be exempted from tolls and the responses of the Ministers for Finance and Roads and Transport to the petitions submitted to them.
The DA continues to believe that this is an unjust toll system which will fail due to boycotts and a justice system that will not be able to cope with the resulting volume of prosecutions.
Statement issued by Dr. Neil Campbell, DA MPL, Gauteng, January 13 2012
SATAWU statement on the postponement of Gauteng e-tolls
The South African Transport & Allied Workers' Union (SATAWU) welcomes the announcement by SANRAL that the implementation of e-tolling on Gauteng roads has been put on hold. This is victory for the poor and the working class. As the SATAWU we say this massive multi-billion rand expenditure on freeways was the wrong priority. We agree with government that all future SANRAL freeway and tolling projects must be put on hold and thoroughly reassessed.
SATAWU has been of the view that a huge chunk of the toll revenue will go to the foreign company running the system and SANRAL executives massive bonus's. The focus should still be on arguing and campaigning for government to re-prioritise its infrastructure spending in the direction of the needs of the working class. In particular, spending on public transport infrastructure and operations must be radically increased to reverse the backlogs which have resulted in such inadequate and unsafe public transport of all modes. Continuously expanding our roads to promote and accommodate more and more private cars, at the expense of other forms of mass transport, is socially, economically, and environmentally unsustainable.
The struggle for affordable, accessible public transport for all South Africans is also a struggle to ensure that government's budgetary priorities are biased towards public transport, towards rural and township roads, and towards the safety of our children. Over R20-billion has already been spent on just Phase A1 of this project alone. We are still concerned by the fact that there are so many planned new tolls in the pipelines.
We have been consistent is saying tolling Gauteng roads is an infringement of our right of movement and not far removed from the Pass system. SANRAL needs to be investigated. SATAWU has publicly suspected that there have been tender irregularities in the Gauteng Freeway plan. There is a need for working class and the poor to fight against this tolling system because it will exacerbate the present poverty and unemployment to a point where it will not be manageable.
We continue to call on the government to prioritise the achievement of safe, reliable, accessible, integrated and affordable public transport instead of being obsessed with elite projects and projects such as toll gates that do nothing but enrich a few at the expense of the majority and workers.
Statement issued by Mamokgethi Rea Molopyane, SATAWU National Spokesperson, January 13 2012
Click here to sign up to receive our free daily headline email newsletter
