The South African Transport and Allied Workers Union (Satawu) has repeated its call to the Department of Transport to scrap Gauteng's planned e-tolling system.
“We remain committed and resolute to the earlier call by the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) for a general strike if government pushes ahead with the Gauteng e-tolling system. It is completely unacceptable to slap such high tolls on city highways on which commuters are forced to travel each day,” the union said.
The Gauteng freeway improvement project last month proposed recommendations to reduce the toll tariffs in the province following extensive consultations.
The project recommended tariffs of 40c/km for light vehicles and 11c/km for commuter taxis carrying e-tags - electronic tolling devices fitted on the front windscreens of vehicles - while light vehicles without e-tags would have to pay 58c/km under the recommendations.
Satawu said with the prices of basic items such as petrol, food, municipal services and electricity already threatening to sink many households, tolls at this level would be an unbearable burden for most families. - I-Net Bridge