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Cape Town - Cosatu will continue its fight against the
government's e-tolling project until the tolls have "finally been
scrapped", the trade union federation said on Tuesday.
Spokesperson Patrick Craven said in the federation's
Workers' Day statement that the postponement of the R20bn e-toll project was
"a direct product of the workers' power and sacrifices".
"We call upon government rather to prioritise the roll-out
of efficient, reliable, affordable and safe public transport for all the people
of South Africa," Craven said.
"Our campaign goes on until these tolls have been
finally scrapped."
Craven said the federation would also take up issues about
the existing toll gates "whose prices are forever on the rise".
People around Zeerust were paying R71 for driving through
the Swartruggens toll gate and R40 for only travelling 80km in the Middleburg
area.
"Tolling forces drivers to pay huge amounts of extra
money just to travel on the province's previously free highways," Craven
said.
"Consumers face massive price increases as a result of
the extra cost of transporting goods to the shops being passed on to the
shoppers," Craven said.
He said Gauteng's toll road project, which was postponed on
Saturday after the High Court in Pretoria granted an interdict against the SA
National Roads Agency Limited after an application by the Opposition to Urban
Tolling Alliance group, was put on hold after Cosatu held discussions with the
ANC.
"We are happy to announce that in our discussions with
the ANC we agreed that we must postpone the implementation of the e-tolls in
Gauteng for a month whilst we work on alternative funding methods," Craven
said.
"This is a direct product of the workers' power and sacrifices."
