Several unions and organisations have pledged unconditional support for the Congress of SA Trade Union's (Cosatu's) nation-wide protest against e-tolling and labour broking today.
The South African Students Congress says the march is essentially in defiance of neo-liberalism. “We believe that both labour broking and the e-tolling system are products of a neo-liberal offensive by capital (with the aid of collaborators in government) to accumulate at the expense of the South African working class. Given our understanding that power concedes nothing without struggle, we believe that this protest is of great importance and will go a long way in restoring the dignity of the poor in SA.”
Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi says e-tolling will add to the burdens of the poor; perpetuate exclusion; cannot exist while there is no viable public transport alternative; and represents a form of privatisation.
Exaggerated impact
The ruling party has called on the march participants to embark on a peaceful protest and to respect the rights of all those who will not be participating in the protest action.
“While we acknowledge protest as a right, the ANC is of the view that the concerns raised by Cosatu on the negative impact of tolling of roads on people who earn less is over-exaggerated, especially after government intervention on the matter.”
Finance minister Pravin Gordhan last month announced reduced rates for vehicles with e-tags, a cap of R550 per month for standard vehicles and a special appropriation of R5.8 billion towards the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project, for which e-tolling was established.
“For all these reasons, therefore, it is the ANC's absolute view that the protest action is unnecessary. We believe that the intervention announced by Gordhan... will go a long way to alleviate financial pressure on the poor and the working class of our country.”
Livelihood erosion
The Southern African Clothing and Textile Workers' Union has also called on its members to support the protest action, saying it is time that the scourge of labour broking be eradicated permanently from society.
Trade union Solidarity appeals to all South Africans who are unable to participate in Cosatu's protest march to object to the e-tolling system in three ways from today until Friday.
It says motorists are encouraged to “toot” every time they drive through a tollgate on a highway; protest against the e-tolling system on all social media platforms, writing #toet before their messages; and SMS the word “toot” to 34388.
The union also says its civilian partner AfriForum is on the verge of effecting a legal strategy aimed at stopping the implementation of the e-tolling system.
Human Rights organisation Black Sash adds its voice to those concerned about any erosion of the livelihoods of the poor and vulnerable through e-tolling and labour broking. With regards to e-tolling, it says it is not just a question of affordability, but rather of the temporary nature of the income received by those in the informal economy. The pressure to make regular payments such as toll fees when household and individual earnings are so irregular will compromise the sustainable livelihoods of vendors who use their own cars to transport the goods they sell or the services they offer.
The National Union of Metal Workers, South African Football Players Union, South African Democratic Nurses' Union, ANC Youth League, and 17 institutions of the Solidarity Movement fully support the protest action by Cosatu. However, Solidarity says it does not support the strike with reference to labour brokers, but only e-tolling.
Decent contradiction
The Democratic Alliance (DA) agrees with Cosatu's opposition to the e-tolling system, but does not agree with the call to ban labour brokers.
“We believe the industry should be appropriately regulated to prevent abuse. If done fairly, labour broking helps create the jobs that lift [people] out of poverty. Cosatu's proposed ban on labour broking would destroy hundreds of thousands of jobs overnight,” says DA leader Helen Zille.
Trade union UASA also says demands that the practice of labour broking should be banned in total, will without doubt have a negative effect on temporary employment and as a result also the economy. It is in agreement that labour broking more than often results in the exploitation of temporary workers. “However, we strongly believe that proper regulation of the industry will have positive results for both workers and employers. Fact remains that with the banning of labour brokers, thousands of temporary workers currently employed by these brokers will be without any income whatsoever.”
Vavi argues that labour brokers are the main drivers of the 'casualisation' of labour. “Their practices are the absolute contradiction to the principle of decent work. Labour broking is equivalent to the trading of human beings as commodities. Labour brokers do not create jobs but merely act as intermediaries to access jobs that already exist, and which in many cases would have existed previously as permanent full time jobs.”
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