Cosatu’s ultimatum to Mbalula ‘part of the games played in politics’

Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, who has been ducking and diving for months over e-tolls, has still to clarify whether his deputy was in line with government thinking when she said that the tolls “will have to be paid… and that is that”.

Mbalula’s spokesperson, Lauren Venkile, yesterday failed to answer questions about whether Deputy Transport Minister Sindisiwe Chikunga’s comments at the weekend were an indication that the government would be taking a hard line on e-tolls.

In July, Mbalula promised that the country would know the government’s decision on the highly unpopular project later that month.

But there has been no news from him or his department.

Chikunga’s comments about the nonnegotiable nature of the principle of “user pays” – which has been used repeatedly to justify the project because of toll money earmarked for road maintenance – have infuriated the Congress of South African Trade Unions in Gauteng (Cosatu), which threatened to protest and delay the upcoming elections in October should Mbalula not make a favourable announcement about e-tolls by the end of the month.

Cosatu provincial chair Amos Monyela said if the government does not listen to the people, it leaves the people with no option but to act within the law to show their dissatisfaction.

The federation said it was disappointed by what they called the ill-informed utterances of Chikunga on e-tolls and accused her of using apartheid methods to suffocate citizens for the benefit of monopoly capital.

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“The Gauteng provincial government, President Cyril Ramaphosa and Mbalula promised that a solution for e-tolls will be found.

We are now waiting for Mbalula to make an announcement, or there will be dire consequences.” Cosatu has called on all motorists in Gauteng to not pay their e-tolls accounts.

Political analyst Dr Ralph Mathekga said he was disturbed by the threat to interfere with votes, especially on election day.

“Why choose the day of the election? If the ANC cannot deal with e-tolls people should still be allowed to vote.”

He, however, understood Cosatu’s concerns and noted the federation has been very consistent with their engagement with the ANC.

“I think everyone in Gauteng is sitting on a knife’s edge to see what’s going to happen,” Mathekga said.

The Electoral Commission of South Africa did not want to comment about the threats from Cosatu.

Political analyst Ongama Mtimka said he understood why Cosatu choose to use an election day to create pressure on the government to meet their demands.

“It is not uncommon for interest groups to undertake this kind of tactics.

“It’s part of the games played in politics,” he said.

Cosatu understood how sensitive the ruling party were about alienating supporters, Mtimka said.

– marizkac@citizen.co.za