:SWILL THEY BELIEVE ME... FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS ALSO?

From COSATU Media Monitor by Patrick Craven:

United in opposing e-tolling system
Sheree Bega, Business Report, 11 March 2012
Kim Coetzee had never done this before. But as she and her husband stood somewhat stiffly, curiously watching the group of energised protesters toyi-toyi and chant Struggle songs, she knew she had to join them.
That’s what she had come to do. After all, it was the prospect of e-tolls, not the Cosatu protesters in front of her, that struck fear in her heart. But where did she get the placards? And what did she do then?
A helpful marshal handed Coetzee a placard that summed up her anger: “Stop e-tolls – highway robbery”.
As she held it up confidently, her uncertainty vanished and her feet pounded the tarmac outside Beyers Naudé Square in sync with the thousands of protesters around her. “I think I’m getting the motion now,” she said. “We’re really enjoying this.”
Soon Coetzee, from Kempton Park, was having her picture taken with grinning Cosatu members.
For the Coetzees, who own a business, e-tolling will be an unacceptable burden to bear.
“We’ve never taken part in anything like this,” said her husband, Craig. “But these tolls affect everybody and it’s about time we said enough is enough.”
The gantries will also strip them of their freedom. “We cannot afford the direct costs of the tolls, the increase in food prices and the effect on our children and lifestyle. But it will also separate us and confine us to our homes. My sister lives… on the West Rand and we won’t be able to visit her.”
Like the Coetzees, Boksburg businessman Eric Bergonzi worries about the effect of tolls on his paint company. That’s what drove him, his wife and father-in-law to the Joburg city centre on Wednesday – by taxi.
“We caught a taxi because we wanted to travel the grass-roots way and be part of the people,” said Byron Haarhoff, who works for Bergonzi. “You must put your footsteps where your mouth is.”
Bergonzi agreed. “You need to love your country and be a part of it. You can’t sit back and complain and not come here and do something. We’re all tired, the way they (the government) push everything through without consultation. We need to stand together.”
Many of Wednesday’s protesters were armed only with a vague idea of what the tolls would cost them. But no matter the price, because Nceba Bolani – who works in Roodepoort and lives in Chiawelo, Soweto, and will ultimately pass through four gantries a day – will not pay.
“I don’t know how much it will cost me. I don’t want to know. Even if it’s R300 or R400, I don’t have the money. I want it to cost me nothing – it’s a national road and I shouldn’t have to pay more. If it means I’m here protesting, forfeiting my salary, or I get sunburnt or am unpopular, so be it.”
Clutching a Louis Vuitton bag, her friend, Khosi Nkosi, watched aghast as a Cosatu striker scraped his body against the ground in a mock military routine.
“Oh my gosh, look at that. I wish I had my camera phone,” said the programme manager at Wits University.
“I’ve never been in a strike before. My mother begged me not to come today. But I’m not registering for these tolls, even if it means I taste prison for the first time in my life. In January, the first thing I told my new boss is that I’m not coming to work today. You need to take a stand for something you believe in.”
That’s what drove Shahieda Moola, 54, a financial director in Sandton, to take part in the protest, even though she won’t be directly affected by the tolls. “People whine but don’t do anything and just hope somebody else will do it for them. Even if we’re not in the front, and lag at the back of the crowd today, in unity is our strength.”
Mayfair resident Fatima Mayet, 26, a business analyst, doesn’t regret the leave day she took to protest against labour broking and e-tolls.
“The most exciting thing was seeing the white faces in the crowd, the minorities standing up. I have three photos on my phone of white people with handwritten posters saying: ‘No tolls’. They weren’t hippies either. I’m going to go back home and show it to people who won’t believe me.”

Wish Liverpool could have a few of the world class strikers that COSATU have on their books..

I understand that the E-Toll Company has already appointed Debt Collectors (thugs?) who will trace and pursue errants and bring them to court!

AND....

that contract was NEVER advertised!

Suppose if it was going back into the coffers for South Africa I might be able to pallet it but and a big but, I believe it is a foreign country that stands to gain the profits from our roads. Does anyone know if this is true?

My problem with the E-Toll is being taxed for using something they should have built with my taxes.
The best way to fight the tolls is to NOT fit the Gizmos in the car but force them to bill you monthly .................if everybody did that the estimate is that the system would grind to a halt in under 3 months.

9 years ago fuel in the UK hit £1-00 a litre there were wide spread protests. THIS year its at £1-49 no protests
7 years ago the congestion charge was introduced in london @ 5-00 a day there were wide spread protests its now at £9-00 a day

boys it makes NO difference the goverment or the goverment model the public always end up coughing.

In tough times for everyone these bas tards make money out of nothing (like roads build and paid for in the past)