Johannesburg - The National Taxi Alliance (NTA) have warned on Tuesday that that e-tolls would lead to an increase in taxi fares, which would ultimately seriously affect the poor.
NTA spokesperson Theo Malele said that although the government had promised that taxis would not pay, 80% of the taxis in the province did not have permits.
"About 50% of those permits are lying with the permits board. How do we apply for exemption while the playing field is not even? This is an autocratic way of doing things," he said.
The NTA has also thrown its weight behind the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu), which has vowed to continue its fight against the user-pays principle on Gauteng freeways until the government listens to the people.Cosatu's Gauteng secretary Dumisani Dakile said its protest action would start in January.
He also called on the country's lawyers to be part of the protest and to represent, free of charge, motorists who were prosecuted.