Rustenburg - The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) in Gauteng on Monday, said it noted the meeting between Transport Minister Fikile Mbalula, Organisation Undoing Tax Abuse (Outa) and the Automobile Association (AA) over the e-tolls.
"We were delighted by the announcement by President Cyril Ramaphosa that both ministers Tito Mboweni, Fikile Mbalula and [Gauteng] Premier David Makhura should work together towards finding a lasting solution to this policy nightmare. Whilst we are waiting for a positive response by this troika to the president and cabinet, we are worried about how this troika has conducted itself, particularly engaging some stakeholders and excluding others," provincial chairperson Amos Monyela said in a statement.
"Cosatu will however not going to worry much about not being engaged by the troika but will remind all of them that the e-tolls policy has political ramifications for the movement, the [African National Congress] ANC in particular as reflected through 2016 local government elections and the 2019 May general elections. The troika should also be reminded that working-class and workers voted for ANC and would like to be engaged effectively on services which affect them directly."
He said Cosatu was excited that at last, the government has listened. The federation waged an eight years-long campaign against e-tolls.
He said it was unfortunate that Cosatu was excluded from the talks and warned that should talks fail, they would stage a march.
"This campaign gained momentum to the point that it was supported by Outa, the AA through research and the alliance. It is unfortunate that the troika left Cosatu from the engagements but we will accept nothing that falls short scrapping the e-tolls. If they fail, we will have an appointment with the troika and in particular Mbalula and Mboweni outside their departments with a large contingent of members to demand answers."