E-toll go-slow protests will continue: Cosatu
Cosatu’s drive-slow campaigns against e-tolling will continue as they irritate politicians, the trade union federation’s Gauteng office said on Wednesday.
“This is not the end of the drive-slows in the province,” the Congress of SA Trade Unions’ Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile said in Johannesburg.
“It also irritates a number of politicians and we are quite very happy with that irritation we are causing.”
He said Cosatu was ready for its protest march on Thursday and said the drive-slows had received support from the public. They were effective in raising awareness.
Dakile said the recently launched court action against the constitutionality of the e-toll bill would not work.
“In our view, these are not matters of the court. These are pure socio-economic matters. We believe this thing must be fought on the street where it matters most,” he said.
“Even if they win, that would be a temporary matter. We need a final determination that these things must not proceed and we believe that is a political position that must be taken.”
He said Cosatu would not be part of the legal action, but would continue with its drive slows and would take this action to another level.
On Thursday, the Democratic Alliance and the Freedom Front Plus announced they would each bring high court applications to fight the constitutionality of the e-toll bill signed by President Jacob Zuma in September.
They argue that e-tolling will affect the competency of provincial government and municipalities by affecting urban planning, public transport, and traffic regulations.
Dakile said people had asked Cosatu to arrange a drive-slow on a Saturday so that they could join, and he said this would be done in the future.
Cosatu plans to march on Thursday to hand over memorandums to Gauteng’s premier, transport department, legislature, the SA Chamber of Mines, and the Hawks.
The cost of the construction of the roads and the 2010 World Cup stadiums was inflated, Dakile said.
“We know the prices were inflated. The Hawks and police must do a criminal investigation,” he said.
Dakile continued to urge motorists not to buy e-tags and said those who had already bought e-tags should de-register.
On Thursday morning, marchers are expected to gather at Cosatu’s head office in Braamfontein at 8.30am. They will leave at 10.30am to deliver the first memorandum to the labour department.
From there, the marchers are expected to deliver memorandums to the provincial transport department, the office of the MEC for transport, the Gauteng legislature and the Gauteng premier.
The final leg of the march would be to deliver memorandums to the SA Chamber of Mines, the Johannesburg central police station, the office of the Auditor General and the Hawks.
Dakile said the protest action by Cosatu had been peaceful and would continue to be peaceful.
More on e-tolls
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