Anti e-Toll Protest Drive/Ride!

No, this isn't just early Saturday morning traffic... it's the Anti e-Toll Protest Drive/Ride!

Protesters formed a blockade on the e-Toll 'freeway', escorted by the Johannesburg Metro Police Department, and made a statement - "We didn't ask for it, so why should we pay for it?"

On Saturday the 27th of September, protesters gathered at the Panorama Flea market in Kliprivier Drive, Mulbarton at 7am and departed at 9am. Protesters, bikers and drivers, proceeded along the freeway at 40km/h in the fast lanes as JMPD officers stopped traffic on the on-ramps to make way for the protest. 

 

A previous event was attended by approximately 5,000 vehicles and was a great success.

Before the proceedings, free anti e-toll stickers were handed out upon arrival and signatures of protest were collected which will be handed over to the Minister of Transport along with a memorandum expressing the people's disapproval of e-Tolls. Written submissions to the e-Toll review panel were also collected which will be delivered to them as well.

A pre-ride debriefing took place at the Flea Market informing those taking part of safety rules and procedures. Rob Hutchinson, an OUTA (Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance) associate who organized the event, opened with many thanks to all involved.

Hutchinson then introduced Howard Dembosky, the head of the Justice Project SA, and he opened by saying, "A lot of people are already starting to celebrate the downfall of e-Tolls, and rightly so. The fact is that the system is not working and it's never ever going to work. Even if you want to pay your e-Toll bills, right now, the possibility of anyone being able to afford to do so is practically zero. So therefore, our 'friends' at Sanral, and at National Government, cabinet, etc etc, have waited way too long if they wanted to prosecute anybody. But if they do, our hands are still firmly in the air for them to come along and prosecute us and have their backsides handed to them when they fail to prosecute us."

Wayne Duvenage, the head of OUTA, was next to speak. He began, "E-Tolls is on the brink of failure and only because we have such active citizenry. You must know that when the gantries were switched on, on the 3rd of December, we got a lot of condolences and messages saying 'We're sorry you didn't get what you wanted and that the fight has come to an end'. But all that had happened is that we had failed to convince the government to come to their senses.” He added that the incorrect billings, billings errors, number plate cloning and the defiance campaign that is unfolding in SA which was bound to bring them down, is everything that OUTA had predicted would happen. He ended by saying, “The lights might be on folks, but I can tell you now, that they have no choice but to turn those lights off at some stage because if you only pay enough money to pay for the collection process and nothing is going into the tarmac, they have a failed system. So it has failed. It’s not failing, it has failed to meet its objectives."

Duvenage informed that there would be another protest event held by COSATU (Congress of South Africa Trade Unions) and that they’d be burning e-Tags and bills outside of Sanral’s offices next month.