The Catholic Church's anti-e-toll stance has been lauded, while the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) gears up for intensified protests over the next two weeks.
Opposition to Urban Tolling Alliance (Outa) chairperson Wayne Duvenage has applauded the Catholic Church's denouncement of government's plan to toll Gauteng's freeways, calling it a morally courageous move.
"We are extremely pleased that an entity of such stature and magnitude as the Catholic Church has come out to defend the country's citizens against a questionable decision and action by the state," says Duvenage.
He says the religious body's denigration of e-tolling was conducted after significant research and an introspective assessment of the pros and cons of the system. "[The church] has recognised the wrongs of this ill-conceived plan, along with the negative impact it will have on the poor, and they have seen how this irrational e-toll decision will lumber society with a significant and unnecessary burden."
Ultimately, says Duvenage, it was this type of "moral courage" by various religious groups and other entities in the past that became the catalyst of apartheid's irrational house of cards to come crashing down. "It would appear there is a case of d'ej`a vu in this matter of irrationality, which has raised the brow of this massive religious body."
Total shutdown
Meanwhile, Cosatu is planning protest action that, according to the trade union federation, will see a complete shutdown of certain Gauteng highways.
Cosatu will furnish further details at a media briefing later today, after the union last week vowed to shut down highways in Johannesburg and Ekurhuleni this Friday and next, respectively.
It is expected the M1, N1, N12 and M2 in Johannesburg and the N3, N12 and R21 in Ekurhuleni will be entirely shut down - as opposed to highways merely being disrupted, as was the case with Cosatu's previous "go-slows".
Cosatu Gauteng provincial secretary Dumisani Dakile says the union also plans various protest actions next month, including a night vigil at the SA National Roads Agency's (Sanral's) Midrand offices.
Outa has called on other bodies, associations and organisations to take a stand and "denounce this preposterous plan of Sanral's". The alliance also reiterates its call for the public to be resolute in their rejection of e-tolling by not purchasing an e-tag.
Outa's legal challenge against e-tolling is set to be heard in the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein in the latter half of this year.
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