ANC
*ANC Calls for a Peaceful Protest by COSATU*The African National Congress (ANC) calls on all those who will be embarking on a protest actionorganised by COSATU, tomorrow, the 7th March 2012, against e-tolling and labour brokers, to respect the rights of all those who will not be participating in the protest action. We also call on COSATU and all the protestors to ensure that this protest action is peaceful and in keeping with the laws of our country. Whilst 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 earning less is over exaggerated, especially after government intervention on the matter.
We believe that the intervention announced by the Minister of Finance, Pravin Gordhan, during the Budget speech this year, on the Gauteng Freeway Improvement Programme, will go a long way to alleviate financial pressure on the poor and the working class of our country. This matter has been address with the exemption of public transport ( taxis and buses) from paying the toll costs.We are happy that the government has made this concession which mitigates the pressure that would have been borne by this category of low wage earners.
The Minister of Finance announced a special appropriation of R5.8 billion for the 2011/2012 expenditure.This will reduce the debt to be repaid through the toll system, and will make a steeper discount possible for regular road users, which includes the working force who use their cars including small and medium entrepreneurs. The cap of monthly tool fees payment to a maximum of R550, no matter how many trips a motorist undertakes on the toll route, is again a clear indication of the government intention to minimise the burden on the part of consumers. For all these reasons therefore, it is the ANC absolute view that the protest action is unnecessary, but we nonetheless respect the right of those who want to protest.
On the issue of labour brokers, as one of the issues that necessitate this protest, we are of the view that there are relevant structures, such as the National Economic Development and Labour Council ( Nedlac), were Organised Labour, including COSATU, has a seat and influence were such issues can be discussed and resolved.As the ANC, we are hopeful and confident that through the NEDLAC process a solution will be found on this matter of labour brokers.
*Issued by: Jackson Mthembu ANC National Spokesperson African National Congress 54 Sauer Street Johannesburg 2001 06th February 2012 Enquiries: Keith Khoza 0828239672 Ishmael Mnisi 0823335550 * -- You are subscribed. This footer can help you. Please POST your comments to [email protected] or reply to this message. You can visit the group WEB SITE at http://groups.google.com/group/yclsa-eom-forum for different delivery options, pages, files and membership. To UNSUBSCRIBE, please email [email protected] . You don't have to put anything in the "Subject:" field. You don't have to put anything in the message part. All you have to do is to send an e-mail to this address (repeat): [email protected] .
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