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The Congress of South African Trade Unions is shocked and angry that the costs of the open road tolling system for Gauteng’s highways keep escalating at an unsustainable rate.
COSATU is particularly dismayed at the speed in which government utilizes its political will to satisfy the infinite wants of the few elites and capitalists in this country.
Government has no misgivings in spending billions on elite projects such as the Gautrain, the taunted speed train from Durban to Johannesburg and the open road tolling system and yet drags its feet when it comes to responding to the basic needs of the working class such as quality housing and an end to the bucket system.
The escalating implementation costs of tolling system are a vindication of our view that the tolls are a modern form of the privatization of public roads.
These tolls will impose a huge additional burden on road users, while generating huge profits for those who have installed it.
The tolls will have a particularly devastating impact on workers who drive to work will. They will lead to big price increases in the shops to cover the increased cost of transporting goods, and some companies may even be forced out of business and have to retrench workers because of their increased transport costs.
COSATU has issued a notice under Section 77 of the Labour Relations Act and negotiations on this are continuing in NEDLAC.
COSATU has also requested a meeting with the Transport Minister Sibusiso Ndebele to discuss our demand for a safe, affordable, integrated and efficient public transport system.
If there is no change in policy from government and the negotiations deadlock, we shall be planning marches, demonstrations, pickets and stayaways, and taking strike action if the tolls are not scrapped. We are confident that thousands of other Gauteng residents will be joining us in these protests.
The billions that are wasted on these tolls could be utilized to build an integrated, safe, reliable and affordable public transport system for everyone, particularly the poor.