Dumisane Dakile, Gauteng provincial secretary for Cosatu, is of the opinion that a series of “drive-slow” protests will ensure the scrapping of the e-tolling system.
HumanIPO reported earlier today the planned motorcade protest against e-tolling got off to a slow start with a lower turnout than previous actions.
Momentum had gathered when a convoy of approximately 100 cars began the protest from the outskirts of Pretoria. Speaking to protesters in the capital city, Dakile said a clear message of resistance will be issued to the government despite the poor turnout.
The turnout may have been smaller than previous protests but the motorcade was reported to have caused severe traffic congestion in Pretoria.
“This action is going to be very effective. Here, we are not concerned about quantity, but quality… There is no rush today in South Africa. The main target today is the N4, R21 and N1 highways,” said Dakile.
Phutas Tseki, Cosatu provincial chairperson confirmed more protest action was planned for the province to drive their message forward. “We are saying to government, we the workers are not happy. The development of the transformation agenda is going astray from what we expected in 1994,” he told protesters.
“We had the view that we were going to have free education [and] free movement on the roads. Government now wants to exclude some sections of society from these roads,” Tseki added.
Although Dakile believes a series of motorcade protests will ensure the demise of the e-tolling system, Tseki said Cosatu has hopes that the transport department will “rescind its decision and review what they are saying.”
