The Democratic Alliance became the first political party to protest the signing of the bill that would give the South African National Roads Agency the authority to launch the e-toll system.
The party’s Gauteng Premier candidate for 2014 Mmusi Maimane led fellow members to the Modderfontein e-tollclient service centreto give reasons why the party is so strongly opposed to the user-pay system.
“President Zuma has signed into law an Act of Parliament that permits the South African National Roads Agency to rob the people of Gauteng of their hard-earned money. This is money that should put bread on the table and pay school fees. It is money that should go towards job creation and service delivery. Our President chose to make this announcement far away from the people of this province. It was an act of cowardice for which we cannot forgive him,” Maimane said.
He said that in a democracy people must be heard, and should have a voice.
According to him government silenced that voice by now charging road-users for using roads. “E-tolls were never necessary at all. They were never the best option to pay for road improvement in South Africa. The upgrade to Gauteng’s freeways could have been paid for through other means,” he said.
The protest and e-tolls have become a cornerstone in Maimane’s election campaign. He promised if he takes over the premiership, e-tolls is one of the first things he’d like to see scrapped.
“E-tolls are a barrier to growth. They are a brake on jobs. They need to be stopped at all costs,” he said.
The party’s shadow Minister for Transport, Ian Ollis, added that it will be a tough battle to ensure the system won’t be implemented. “We’ll use every means to ensure it won’t happen,” he said.
The Congress of South African Trade Unions also released their latest statement on e-tolls today.
National spokesperson Patrick Craven said the bill will not change the federation’s determined opposition to privatising highways.
“The fight against e-tolling – and for efficient, reliable, affordable and safe public transport for all the people – has always been political rather than legal, and our campaign of mass action will now be raised to a higher level of intensity. At the same time we wait with interest the outcome of the legal action being taken by Outa in the Supreme Court of Appeal, which may yet see e-tolling declared unlawful,” he said.
September 27, 10am:
The Democratic Alliance is staging a protest against e-tolling on 27 September from 11am.
This comes two days after President Jacob Zuma signed a bill into law giving the South African National Roads Agency Limited the green light to launch the controversial user-pay system.
The protest is led by Mmusi Maimane, the opposition party’s national spokesperson and 2014 general election candidate for Gauteng Premier.
It is taking place along the N3, near the Modderfontein off-ramp. The message is for the people of Gauteng to vote against e-tolling in the election.
Maimane has promised to do everything in his power to stop e-tolling if he is elected Premier of Gauteng next year.
