Cape Town - Government would be "jumping the gun"
if it announced e-tolling was to go ahead in Gauteng, Cosatu said on Thursday.
Should it do so, the federation's opposition campaign would
shift "back into top gear", including its members taking to the
streets, Congress of SA Trade Unions spokesperson Patrick Craven told Sapa.
The inter-ministerial committee (IMC) on the Gauteng Freeway
Improvement Project is set to announce on Friday exactly how e-tolling - which
has provoked massive opposition from motorists and residents of South Africa's
economic heartland - will work.
"The committee will be making an announcement on
Friday, on how the e-tolls will be implemented," spokesperson Thabo Masebe
said on Wednesday.
"The committee has been meeting various concerned
parties since last week and we are concluding discussions this week," he
said.
Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe chairs the IMC.
Masebe said it was possible to have a solution that satisfied everyone, as the government and relevant parties were much closer after the consultations than earlier this year.
There was general agreement on the user-pays principle, he
said.
On Thursday, Craven said Cosatu did not support the
user-pays principle, and that e-tolls were the wrong way to raise money for the
country's freeway systems.
He said a task team, set up by Cosatu and the ANC, was still investigating the matter.
"The absurd thing is we have a meeting with them (the
IMC) tomorrow (Friday), on the same day as the announcement. Let's hope this
works out... but it looks like someone has blundered," he said.
Craven repeated a call for the public not to buy e-tags, and
noted there were "huge numbers of people, beyond Cosatu" who were
opposed to e-tolling.
Responding to questions on what action Cosatu will take
should government announce e-tolling is to go ahead, Craven said: "Our
campaign of opposition will be back into top gear... we will take to the
streets."
He added: "Let's hope they hold back."
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