Nzimande slammed for e-toll comment
COSATU has slammed SACP general secretary and Transport Minister Blade Nzimande, saying he was speaking out of turn and without a mandate from the ANC-led tripartite alliance by justifying the continued use of e-tolls on Gauteng roads.
This comes after Nzimande recently warned against the rejection of e-tolls based on sentiments, adding that there was no decision that the department has taken to do away with the gantries as they funded the bill that helped build Gauteng freeways.
Yesterday, Cosatu national spokesman Sizwe Pamla slammed Nzimande’s position as problematic on the controversial issue, saying there was consensus to get rid of e-tolls.
“He is speaking out of turn now. He is going against the grain.
“There is no leader in government and in the alliance that still supports e-tolls, not one. He should stop that thing because he does not have a mandate.
“The ANC has washed its hands of that thing and government at national, provincial and local level in this province have washed their hands of e-tolls,” Pamla said. Speaking on the SABC’s On the
Record, Nzimande said he understood the public sentiment around e-tolls but that they were helping to fund the R67 billion that was owed by government in the building of “these wonderful freeways”.
“The issue is who is going to pay and how are we going to pay… If you take away the e-tolls now – and we are not saying we are or we are not – how do you pay back this R67 billion? Do you increase the fuel levy?
“Already there’s huge outcries that the fuel prices are high, legitimately so, so we can’t just discuss this issue purely based on the sentiment that people do not want e-tolls,” Nzimande said.
Pamla insisted that government leaders in all spheres including President Cyril Ramaphosa, Premier David Makhura and Johannesburg mayor Herman Mashaba have rejected e-tolls.
The federation has accused Nzimande of dealing a huge blow to the ANC’s electoral prospects ahead of next year’s elections by entertaining the idea of keeping e-tolls.
SACP national spokesperson Alex Mashilo said it was not Nzimande who introduced e-tolls and the problems they have created in Gauteng.